For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21
I check my email at home about once a week. Most of the email I get at this address are from companies whose lists I subscribe to so that I can receive coupons, free crochet patterns, or other information. Today I checked my email and deleted 222 that were all geared toward holiday shopping.
I'm working on a final project for the Field and Studio Production class I am taking this semester. It's about holiday shopping and the excessive amount of garbage Americans produce during this time of year--an additional 25 billion tons! In my research, I found that this year it is estimated that people will spend more than $600 billion on gifts and other items associated with the holidays.
I think about this and the number of robberies this time of year. What is this obsession we have with having the latest, greatest thing to the point that we become indebted to the credit card companies or resort to stealing?
I think Sheldon Cooper on "The Big Bang Theory" has it right about gift giving. We're just trading the same $20 back and forth, so why don't we just keep our money and forget the gifts? Maybe that sounds cold and takes all the fun out of shopping and all that jazz, but will taking away this one little gesture alter our relationships with each other? Perhaps it will help us focus on what is most important.
The staff of the church I work for has stopped buying Christmas gifts for one another. Instead, we each give a donation that buys something from the ELCA Good Gifts catalog, which benefits those who need farm animals or clean water just to be able to survive. Giving life and hope to another human being means so much more than the $5 trinkets we buy to spread Christmas cheer.
I have a roof over my head, food on my table, a husband who loves me, two kitties that give us joy, and so much more than I could possibly name. This Christmas we will give a few gifts--mainly to our young nephews--but, we won't be fighting over Frozen toys and iPads with complete strangers in the crowded aisles of department stores. We'll be praying that God will fill hungry stomachs, send rain where there is drought, provide shelter where there is none, grant healing where there is illness and pain, and send peace in the midst of discord. O come, O come, Emmanuel...
I check my email at home about once a week. Most of the email I get at this address are from companies whose lists I subscribe to so that I can receive coupons, free crochet patterns, or other information. Today I checked my email and deleted 222 that were all geared toward holiday shopping.
I'm working on a final project for the Field and Studio Production class I am taking this semester. It's about holiday shopping and the excessive amount of garbage Americans produce during this time of year--an additional 25 billion tons! In my research, I found that this year it is estimated that people will spend more than $600 billion on gifts and other items associated with the holidays.
I think about this and the number of robberies this time of year. What is this obsession we have with having the latest, greatest thing to the point that we become indebted to the credit card companies or resort to stealing?
I think Sheldon Cooper on "The Big Bang Theory" has it right about gift giving. We're just trading the same $20 back and forth, so why don't we just keep our money and forget the gifts? Maybe that sounds cold and takes all the fun out of shopping and all that jazz, but will taking away this one little gesture alter our relationships with each other? Perhaps it will help us focus on what is most important.
The staff of the church I work for has stopped buying Christmas gifts for one another. Instead, we each give a donation that buys something from the ELCA Good Gifts catalog, which benefits those who need farm animals or clean water just to be able to survive. Giving life and hope to another human being means so much more than the $5 trinkets we buy to spread Christmas cheer.
I have a roof over my head, food on my table, a husband who loves me, two kitties that give us joy, and so much more than I could possibly name. This Christmas we will give a few gifts--mainly to our young nephews--but, we won't be fighting over Frozen toys and iPads with complete strangers in the crowded aisles of department stores. We'll be praying that God will fill hungry stomachs, send rain where there is drought, provide shelter where there is none, grant healing where there is illness and pain, and send peace in the midst of discord. O come, O come, Emmanuel...