October 5. I just saw the first Christmas ad on TV. For Disney World.
Sigh……………………………..
Tag Archive for Christmas
A Different Kind of Christmas Gift
Start a new Christmas tradition. Each family member writes down a gift, placing the paper in a special stocking or wrapped box with a slot on top. The gift should be for someone outside your family—a neighbor, another family, acquaintance, person you’ve heard about. And the gift must be of time, not money or goods, a gift of self, not charity. Examples: monthly visits to a nursing home for a year; driving a person to medical appointments until he’s well; helping an adult or child learn English or to read or write; changing the attitude of a prejudiced friend. (I can give you more ideas–let me know.)
Have a very merry Christmas!
Really Get into the Christmas Spirit
Found this in my news feed. 12 days of Holiday Kindness–what a great idea! Sure, it’s only 9 days until Christmas, but why not double-up some days?
A Different Kind of Christmas Gift
Looking for a novel Christmas gift? Maybe a pig farm in Bolivia? A grocery store in the Philippines? Doors for a house in El Salvador? This is how it works: you buy a gift certificate for as little as $25 from www.Kiva.org. The person you give it to goes to that site to choose a recipient for his microloan. That money, combined with other microloans, will start or expand a small business in a developing country, allowing people there to earn a living, educate their children, and generally improve their families’ lives. Kiva loans don’t earn interest, but 99% of the loans have been repaid (including all the ones I’ve made). Other poverty-targeted microloan organizations have differing investment amounts, pay-backs, and structures. I mention Kiva because of my personal experience with it. And they offer gift cards which you can give to, say, a grandchild. Then you can go online with him to set up the account in his name. Together you can watch a small investment change people’s lives in a big way, and the grandchild can boast, “I helped rebuild a house in Peru!”
A Different Take on Giving Tuesday
Tomorrow is “Giving Tuesday,” a holiday designed to balance out the self-absorbed madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On this day, business, charities, communities, and families enter into the spirit of giving. EVERYONE can participate. If not with our wallets, then with our excess food in our pantries or the second Buy-one/Get-One-Free item. With that like-new clothing we loved when we bought it but know we’ll never wear. With those toys our kids opened Christmases ago but sit in their boxes, unplayed with. With blankets and rain ponchos for the homeless who are about to be caught in what promises to be a harsh winter. Or simply with the gift of our time: to help at a shelter or soup kitchen; to visit a lonely elder in a nursing home; to comfort a grieving family; to be with a troubled child. I hope Giving Tuesday expands to Giving Everyday. During this month, though, it turns the madness into a loving anticipation of a Christmas season packed with all the meaning it’s supposed to have.
Cards that Keep on Giving
Thinking about putting Christmas decorations away for the year? Be sure to recycle those Christmas cards that gave you warmth and beauty over the season: make postcards out of the fronts; use them in arts and crafts projects; make a collage to form a photo-album cover; use clear sides for notes; donate them to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children or another charity; or (as a last resort) put them into the recycle bin.
[For more easy, money-saving, Earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]
OK, So What IS this Kwanzaa Thing?
It’s the day after Christmas. Now we’re hearing about another holiday–Kwanzaa. What exactly is it? It isn’t another Christmas, or even a religious holiday, even though it does promote faith, among other things. Here’s a brief description, including the 7 Principles. (You’ll probably have to do a Ctrl -Alt while scrolling to enlarge it so you can read it easier.)
You can learn more about by going to the Kwanzaa official website. Whatever our own culture is, this celebration has a lot for all of us to embrace.
Christian?
During this pre-Christmas time of year, when love and compassion should abound, I’m struck by common things we do to each other: anger at other drivers, illegally and inconsiderately using a handicap parking spot, pushing fellow shoppers out of our way, avoiding eye-contact and a humanizing greeting for people we pass, especially the homeless, tossing our trash on the yard we walk by, not calling or visiting someone we know is lonely or ill…. For those of us who call ourselves “Christians,” this season and this Thursday Thought quote should be a reminder.
“We are not going to win the masses to Christianity until we live it.” – Dorothy Day
Weird Christmas Gifts
Are you among the millions of people stumped for a Christmas gift for that special (or un-special) someone? Think outside of the gift wrapping…and enjoy a laugh. Check out these 41 Weird Christmas Gifts That Even Normal People Will Love.
Happy or Merry: the December Debate
We’re back to “Merry Christmas” vs “Happy Holidays.” Many Christians are enraged by “Happy Holidays.” Apart from the fact that, to be reverent, we should take our greeting out of party mode (“merry”) and wish people a blessed Christmas, I invite everyone to consider this: There are at least a dozen religious holidays in December, not just Christmas. Three are purely Catholic (Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Feast of the Holy Family), others are for all Christians (St. Nicholas Day, Posadas Navidenas, Holy Innocents Day, and Christmas). Muslims celebrate Mawlid el-Nabi and Mawlid un-Nabi, Jews have Hanukkah, and Zoroastrians Zarathosht Diso and Yalda. Right after New Year’s, when we all tell God that we will try to be better children for Him, comes the Buddhists’ Bodhi Day. Obviously, God in His infinite wisdom, not only made his children diverse but also nudges us toward Him in various ways. So, please don’t take offense if you hear me say “happy holidays.” If I don’t know if a person is Christian, I’ll respect God’s child and the way God is calling to him.