“So will I,” echoed Hilda.
“Let’s all make something in Woodcraft for the party,” said Nita.
“Girls, why not exchange gifts with each other and make them ourselves in Woodcraft style? We need not limit the giving to Zan, you know,” suggested the Guide.
“Gracious me! It will take a pile of presents and ages to finish them all,” exclaimed Eleanor Wilbur; “I can’t do it.”
“I had no idea of elaborate gifts. For instance, Nita can dance a new step on the evening of the party, and teach it to Zan for a present. That will not take her long nor be much work,” explained Miss Miller.
“Oh, that won’t be a gift!” laughed Nita.
“Why not? Won’t it be the expression of your desire to give pleasure to another? And won’t Zan remember your love and generosity that really constitutes true giving? It is a mistake to look at the material object as the gift, and forget the loving spirit that formed the thought which expressed itself in the thing. The material gift is destructible, but the love of a friend remains forever the true gift.”
“According to Miss Miller, then, we will be silly to waste time on producing material objects when we can easily wish our love on anyone,” retorted Eleanor, in an unpleasant tone.
“Eleanor, when we reach that state of perfect brotherhood of which Jesus spoke as Heaven, we shall exchange love and goodness without the material accompaniment, but while still on earth our limited vision and other senses require the expression in kind as we are, to be able to realise the love and desire to make others happy. That is why we are compelled to plan and work before our friends know the state of our feelings. For instance, your words spoken in tones and expression of human resentment show me quite plainly that your thought is wrong—that you rebel in mind against doing what was proposed by the love of the other girls. But I may not have realised this state of your thought had you not expressed it—see what I mean?” said Miss Miller, meaningly.
Eleanor flushed but said nothing. And Zan quickly said: “Say, girls, we can all win coups that will count if we make some Woodcraft things mentioned in the Manual!”