In our life time, we run into people that make a great impact in our life. Sometimes they are our parents, family members, friends or strangers.

In the context of Tend to Your Garden Within, such people can be a source of water and nutrition that help the flowers and fruit trees in our garden flourish.  In my opinion, these people are sent from the Divine to change the trajectory of our lives so we can move toward a more fulfilling life.

I was very blessed to know Dr. Melvyn Smith for two years.  I went to see him in Houston, Texas, to help me deal with my dad’s accident and death.  Dr Smith was not only a medical doctor, homoeopathist, mathematician, musician, and poet; he was also an evolved soul.

He challenged my beliefs, thoughts and behavior.  I would drive 300 miles back and forth once a month to have an hour session with him.  Those days were some of the pivotal points in my spiritual growth and my desire to know myself.

Dr. Smith passed away, too soon, in 2009 at the age of 66 due to pancreatic cancer.  I would like to dedicate the poem below to him and all the wonderful teachers who show up in our lives and provide us with gifts of love and understanding.

Gifts

We receive many gifts in our life.

Some are small, some large.

Some cheap, some expensive,

some priceless.

How do we measure the value of a gift after

one, two, ten, or twenty years?

Most times, on the surface it is measured by its cost.

But within us, outside the glamour of the world

 it is measured by our heart.

How do we measure the worth of a gift with our heart?

Does recalling the gift bring

tears of joy and appreciation to our face?

Does recalling the gift warm up our heart

 with a joyful tingling?

What gifts may bring us such feelings?

Perhaps it is a gift based on

love, choice, no obligation or expectation

from the gift-giver.

A gift may be the gift of life from our parents.

A gift may be the memory of a delightful time with a parent,

a brother, a sister, a child, a friend or a mate.

A gift may be the unconditional love received

from a favorite aunt or uncle, or even a stranger.

A gift may be the unconditional love received from

our favorite pet.

A gift may be the wisdom and insight from our many teachers,

helping us see our inner beauty.

These gifts usually have no physical form.

These gifts cannot be bought on the open market.

The gift-giver never runs out of gifts,

there a never ending source.

The gift has the energy of the gift-giver.

Soul parts of the gift-giver

are in the gift.

We have two choices:

ignore or accept the gift.

As we accept and acknowledge the gift

the gift-giver becomes part of us.

Perhaps that is the reason we still remember

the gift-givers in our lives

after so many years

with both joy and sadness.

Copyright . 2010 by Shervin Hojat