The Gift Economy

My daughter spent the summer at the L’Abri in England two years ago, and when she returned home, she brought audio copies of some of her favorite lectures. We listened to one of these CDs on the way home from Los Angeles earlier this summer. It was about the difference between the Market Economy and the Gift Economy. In the Market Economy, you exchange something of value, like money, for a commodity. After the exchange is through, you have received your commodity as “a right” since you paid for it, and there are no lingering effects.

The Gift Economy builds community in several ways. First, when you have received something that you did not pay for and did not deserve, you have gratitude toward the giver. Gratitude leads to thankfulness which is one of the foundations of our human experience. Secondly, the receiver often feels indebted to the giver and looses some of his independence and autonomy which is necessary for community to build. (and which is why some people do not like to be given gifts.) But most importantly, the Gift Economy must take place in real community. The Market Economy creates boundaries while gifts move across boundaries and abolish them.

This summer, a couple from our community of friends gave us the wonderful gift of staying at their river front cottage for a few days. My family enjoyed swimming in the river, doing puzzles, writing stories, hiking and playing games. The gift of the cottage included much more than a house. It encompassed all it means for a family to have time away to enjoy each other. I am forever thankful and indebted to our dear friends, and our community together grows deeper and deeper.

The Importance of the Arts

My family went camping at Lake Cachuma a few weeks ago, and, for the first time, I attended an outdoor PCPA play in Solvang. Although I have attended many musical performances, plays and operas over the years, this play stood out as one of the best theater performances that I had ever seen.

In the play’s program guide, the artistic director of the event, Mark Booher, wrote about the fact that many of the people at the performance were “arts supporters” – people who are willing to invest their money and time in promoting the arts. I would definitely classify myself in that category. But perhaps more importantly, Mr. Booher goes on to say that those of us who attend these events are not only supporting the arts, but the arts support us also.

He says that the arts, “… lift our heaviness, they buoy us on the stormy sea, they elevate our low points, they bolster our foundations and occasionally they prop up our otherwise crumbling facades. The arts support our fully realized humanity – the expression of ideas, feelings and realities that are otherwise difficult to express and activate. Art is one of the prime means of conveyance of our internal essences to our outward life – bringing us from being into action, from silence to communication, from isolation to connectedness.”

I thought about that quote as I watched the Too Young to Marry trio perform at Cambria Pines Lodge a few days later. Their music did express their inward beauty that we, as an audience, would never have experienced without their music.

Below are a couple of links to their music that day. I hope that you will be inspired to become even more of an arts supporter, and that you will find yourself supported and encouraged by the arts as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8MLkYb-h5c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoSji4bWZT0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYL7BDS7NY4

The Wedding

The daughter of our good friends got married last Friday. They had a country wedding with white daisies strewn along the grass aisle and paper butterflies decorating the seat backs. The bridesmaids wore sunny yellow dresses, and the couple was married with a glowing sun setting in the background. They were married on a Friday because on that particular day, the bride’s grandparents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary as well. In honor of the legacy of love and commitment that this older couple was setting for these newlyweds, the two couples had a special dance together with the Bride’s father and band providing the music.

After a fabulous BBQ meal, I got to teach some of my favorite lines dances to the group. I knew many of the people at the reception, and it was quite a treat to be able to introduce them to some new dances. I shared a fun memory that both the bride and groom, long before they were a couple, attended one of the first Victorian Era dances that I ever taught and called.

As the wedding guests departed, they were given a jar of locally grown honey with a tag on it that said, Meant to “Bee”.