This piece blends three strands of Biblical narratives: the widow’s mite (Luke 21:1-4), the Eucharist (Jn. 13-17), and the story of Elijah and the widow (1 Kings 17:7-16). Simply put, the “paradox of giving” is this: the more you give away, the more is given to you. Another way of viewing it: the more you give away, the more you can live in the inherent givenness of things. In God’s cosmology of grace, there is no dualism between giving and receiving—everything is gift, passed from Christ’s nail-pierced hands into ours.