In the early 1990's, various churches were promoting a non consumer Christmas. I can remember it coming across my desk when I was in parish ministry and thought it was a bit extreme for me to take it to its most radical end. I did though appreciate the message of Christmas being a time for spiritual discipline and a need to re- think the gift giving experience as marketed by advertisers & business. Being the rebel I am, I brought it up in my congregation and encouraged folks to re evaluate how they spend the time leading up to Christmas and whether they were getting value from the hype and craziness. If they weren't here is something new to consider. For myself, over the years I have found that I tend to purchase gifts through the year, and make a lot of gifts for my family and friends. It works well and I don't feel as stressed out about getting the best most perfectest gift. And if someone doesn't like something, oh well, you can buy your own PlayStation or I Pad.
I was reminded yesterday of the non consumer Christmas when one of the organists at a fellow church started talking about his struggle in this last week before Christmas. He and his family have been practicing this discipline for 15 years, so he is an old hand at it. But still he struggles to keep under the tree bare. His comments had me last night, while watching TV, really paying attention to the commercials and I must admit it is a strong barrage of ads and energy going into getting us to buy stuff that we really don't need or want or will make us happy. For those who want to celebrate Christmas a different way, it can be extremely difficult to change the pattern set by society.
On the quilting front, I have finished another two runners off. I will take pics and post later on when I have the energy and desire to clear off a display table to show them off!
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