Greetings
Nick: I like your Xmas views.
Margot & I decided no presents for each other this year.
Well that is not strictly correct. I give Margot $210, she gives me $210.
We then pool the $420 & send it to India where a Tibetan Buddhist Monk's father
will have an operation and regain his sight.
I think I am starting to get that Christmas feeling again.
(Ron)
Christmas approaches
The Western world goes mad with greed every
Christmas. Why?
What is the point?
If you must buy, why not buy from charities?
http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com
Fed-up with Christmas?
Then don't participate. No one is forcing you.
Not so Christian
Christmas
If Christmas is intended to celebrate the birth of Christ, how come its a
commercial holiday?
Jesus said, "Take everything you have and give it to the poor."
The modern Christmas is not very Christian.
Non-Christian
Christmas?
If you are not a Christian, what exactly are you celebrating over Christmas?
Why are wrapping up all those presents, sitting through family meals and
over-indulging?
For what? In aid of what? Tradition? For the sake of it? Why?
It is far less expensive not to bother.
If you are having Christmas in order to over-eat, get drunk and indulge
yourself, what does that say about your character?
Charity & judgement
You often say, "I
would give, but only to the deserving."
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride,
that you should see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
(Kahlil Gibran)
Re-discover
Christmas
Do not get caught up in the sickening sentimentality of carol singing and
Christmas decorations.
Give.
Go to the Salvation Army over Christmas or donate money to the thousands of
charities out there.
Take nothing for yourself. Ask for nothing. Make it a season of giving. A
time for caring.
Re-discover
Christmas #2
In the 1970's Peter McNally (the local Scout leader) used to take large
gangs of children and adults around the village on Christmas morning.
He'd found out which old people were alone and had no family. He'd filled
shoe boxes with presents and asked people to sign cards.
Then he took everyone to visit each and every lonely old person. We would
all stand and sing outside their houses.
The expressions on the faces of the old people said it all.
What about tradition?
If you are a Christian, give to the poor.
If you are not, why let marketing and commerce bully you into feeling guilty
for not buying presents? People are just trying to make money out of you.
They want you in debt.
They want you spending more than you can afford. Your
greed finances their greed.
If you recall the Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol you may remember
that celebrating Christmas traditionally entailed giving gifts to the poor.
This is seldom
the case these days...
There is nothing miserly about rejecting consumerism.
More...
Page created 4 February 1998