Every year I rant about the rampant consumerism that consumes Christmas and masks the real meaning of it. Walk into any shop and you wonder what cut price chocolate or over priced perfume has to do with the birth of Jesus. However, an article in Christian Today questions how clear our Christian conscience is at this time of the year.
It suggests ways of helping people who are suffering from tragedies and persecution around the world. At a simple level Christmas is about remembering others but there is a need to distinguish the 'haves' from the 'have nots'. I am not talking in the political sense of the 99% who are 'have nots' and the 1% who are 'haves'. Instead, so many people buy presents in excess of what their family and friends need. I cannot count the number of time I have received body lotion and soap and appreciative as I was I did not actually need these. To reverse this in my own way I have taken Christmas food to the local Foodbank. It is the easiest way to remember those who are lacking in these times because, unfortunately, given the proliferation of Foodbanks in the country there is bound to be one near you.
Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about the issue of consumerism and how even some of us who criticise it sometimes fall into the trap as well. This Christmas, a friend of the family gave us food that was going to be thrown away from the M&S where he works and honestly, I felt so angry. We had so much we were able to pack full boxes for families in need. What was worse was that there was so much more - he'd only been able to bring us what he could fit in his car.
I really hope and pray that this year I will listen to and more importantly, act on my Christian conscience so thanks for this post! It's funny how often we seem to think we're better than our forebears when it comes to the poor, but then it hits you that in some ways, we haven't gotten any better.