A child set out along life’s path.  The first people he met were his parents.  They taught him so many things in life, and, naturally, he believed everything he was told, for, after all, if he couldn’t believe them, who could he believe?  They gave him his first important gift in life:  FAITH.  It came shining bright, wrapped in layers of pure, soft silk.  His experience of life was yet to come, and it was only from this experience that would know whether this precious gift was the best gift in his world.  The parents assured the child, from all their loving actions, that they would always be there for him, and he, naturally felt safe and loved, with the faith that what they conveyed would be constant. 

The second gift which was bestowed on the child was the gift of hope.  This came from quite an unexpected quarter:  his school.  In fact, it came from his teacher. 

The child had been led to believe that by passing the 11 plus examination, the door to opportunity onto a better life would be open to him.  Failure of that examination would mean condemnation to a life of menial toil.  He was told that the gift of hope was available, but only to those who worked and passed this examination.  He went through practice tests:  “If one man could row the English Channel in 6 hours, how many men would it take to row the channel in 2 hours?” etc.    He wondered whether these things would really matter in life, and how would they affect his goals in life?   Perhaps one man had only one arm?  Perhaps he was old and the others were young.  These things were never mentioned in the test question.   His wonderings soon ceased, and the number of men rowing the English Channel soon faded into insignificance. 

The last gift came unexpectedly and much later in life.  Now established in his career and living in a country far from home, he was involved in arranging a private function:  the firm’s annual dinner/dance.  Dances were things which didn’t normally come into his normal world for he always felt he had “two left feet”.  However, serving on the committee would keep him busy and away from the dance floor. 

The event soon came and people started to arrive.  The bar opened and the music started to play.  In they came in ones, twos and small groups.  Sitting idly with friends, glancing around the room, a vision of loveliness came into his eyes.  At first he didn’t pay much attention, but soon found that his eyes returned more and more to this particular vision.  One dance led to two, then to nights out.  One evening, quite unexpectedly, she arrived with a box.  “You may think this is nothing” said she, “but this box contains my LOVE for you and this you may keep forever.”

With these three gifts, the man was able to live a fulfilled and happy life for:

FAITH taught him that good can overcome evil and that the sun can shine even through a rainstorm in life.  Faith is trusting in yourself enough to know that whatever happens in life, and even when things go wrong, you will make the best of them and go forward to better things.

HOPE taught him not to give up on himself.  It taught him not to accept failure as a word in his vocabulary, but not closing his eyes to the difficulties that life would present to him.  He learnt that doors in life never close completely, but lead to new doors which can be opened  onto better things.   He learnt to tell himself that “If I fail now, I have not failed forever.”

Of  LOVE he learnt wisely:  “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy and does not boast.  It not rude or self-seeking.  It is not angered and keeps no record of right or wrong.  It doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices in truth.”  Where there is knowledge, this will come and pass, but true love will last forever.

The man still keeps his boxes:  FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE – but the box he considers the greatest of the three is the box containing -