Asteya: nonstealing 6

The opposite of stealing, of course, is giving.  I have done almost no Christmas shopping this year.  It seems that the older my boys get the less excited I am about going out and buying all kinds of things.  Gabriel asked me today what he should get his brother and myself this year!  That is a first.  He is 24 and is holding down his first full time job, he may not realize it but this newfound sense of responsibility is the best gift that I could possibly ask for.  My son Ariel graduated from college last week.  What better gift is that, the gift that I have raised a son who was able to do that which I was not.  On Wednesday I attended a prayer vigil on 7^th and Ceres for a man who was murdered on that street corner, there were about 15 or 20 people there, including clergy, neighborhood leaders, LAPD, Occupy LA spiritual activists, and people passing by and joining in.  Many said prayers aloud for this man, and for the 104 people that died on skid row so far in 2011, according to Officer Johnson, who lead us in a powerful prayer. I lead the group in chanting Akal, a Sikh practice which means that there is no death, which helps the spirit to be guided into the light...into the light, Winter Solstice. My prayer is my gift.  If all that we do is just show up, and offer our presence, that is the greatest of presents.

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