“Giving and receiving are parts of the same circle.
If you want to receive more–give more.”
In the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, there is a story that describes Jesus’ healing powers:
“Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.” (Matthew 15:30)
After they spent three days with him, (is this where three day weekend retreats came from?), he told his disciples that people should not leave him hungry. “But we have only seven loaves of bread and a few small fish,” they replied.
And here comes another story which was as miraculous as the healing.
“Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.” (Matthew 15:36)
“The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children.” (Matthew 15:38)
Jesus, his disciples, and the “great crowd” were Jewish, thus what Jesus probably did before breaking bread was to say benediction—a blessing on the bread.
“Blessed Are you God, our Lord, King of the World, who brings forth bread from the earth.”
But the scripture indicates something else “and when he had given thanks”.
The question comes to my mind—what did he actually give?
We usually associate giving something tangible. Perhaps giving thanks is an expression of gratitude to the people who came to him and gave Jesus an opportunity to heal them and give them nourishment through food—in addition to the spiritual healing. Therefore, “Giving Thanks” has a much deeper meaning than just saying these words of the Benediction.
Whom have you given thanks to lately?
One opportunity to do so, is to give food to the needy through the San Francisco and Marin Food Bank. The brown bag with instructions from this organization was delivered to my house. I am planning to fill it up and to deliver the food in person. Giving money to different charities that you believe in, is important, but giving thanks through the effort of buying the food, filling the bag, and bringing it to the distribution center on 900 Pennsylvania Avenue, for me has a different meaning.
At the same time for me to personally give thanks means to share my outlook on life and my photographic skills and vision. So I created a photo book, “Soy Cubano”. I call it a book of gratitude to the people in Cuba.
You are welcome to give thanks to your friends and loved ones by buying the book online. I will send out a separate email regarding the price and where to purchase the book soon, so stay tuned. I will use the money to give thanks to a needy group of children in Cuba.
The four images you see are from the total of 52 images in the book. You can also see some of them on my website Mannykagan.smugmug.com
P.S.
I am off to Havana tomorrow for 10 days to meet more beautiful people and give them thanks (tourism is what sustains the Cuban economy). In return, I will bring more images to create another photo book. If you want to have a hardbound copy of “Soy Cubano”, it can be a beautiful present. Proceeds from the sale will go towards charity.
Please continue to check back for new developments between the U.S. and Cuba.
Do Not Keep Me as a Secret.
SMILE AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND