A Perspective for Celebrating Christmas Differently:
Read Luke 1:46-55
Questions: What ideas or phrases in Mary’s song catch your attention? Does her song reflect your understanding of Christmas? Why or why not? What carols or Christmas traditions echo her vision of Jesus’ birth?
A Reason for Celebrating Christmas Differently:
Ipsos-Reid reports that 77% of North Americans said they didn’t need anything for Christmas, while only 36% said there was something in particular they actually wanted.
A 2006 survey done by Leger Marketing reported that when respondents were asked to name their favorite aspect of Christmas – 26% said “gift giving” compared to 8% who said “gift receiving.”
Questions: Are you surprised by these statistics? Why or why not? Apart from gifts, what are your favorite things about the Christmas season? What is your favorite Christmas memory?
A Prayer for Celebrating Christmas Differently:
Dear God,
Christmas is your light breaking into the darkness. We confess that we are sometimes blinded – not by your glory – but by consumerism, greed and the oppression of packed schedules. Help us, this year, to do Christmas differently. Strengthen us to resist the lure of getting more in a world where so many have so little. Equip us to use this time, to set aside moments to remember your birth, to think about how we might do your will here on earth, as it is in Heaven. By breaking into human history, you showed us a different way – the way of reconciliation, redemption and resurrection. As we celebrate how you came, help us remember why you did. And live differently because of it.
Amen
A Way of Celebrating Christmas Differently:
Make a mini-documentary about your parents. Interview them on video about their memories (childhood, adolescence, courtship, marriage and family life), interview other relatives and friends about your parents; include family photographs and heirlooms in the video and use your parents' favorite music as background. Give copies as a gift to your parents, siblings and relatives.
Collect quotes that make you think of someone. If you are feeling more creative, turn it into a small scrapbook, that can easily be carried in a backpack, briefcase, or purse.
Assemble a box of vintage dress-up clothes and accessories from grand-parents’, aunts’ and uncles’ closets. This box of shoes, bow ties, pants, hats, funky bracelets, clip-on earrings guarantees hours of creative fun for girls and boys aged 5 to 10.
Write stories (with illustrations) with your children and/or nephews and nieces as the chain characters and read it to them aloud as you are gathered around the Christmas tree.
Make a scrapbook for your son or daughter (e.g. memories of ages one to 10), which includes photographs, mementos and stories about them.
Bake holiday cookies, pies or cakes and deliver them to family and friends before the Christmas rush.
Make a recipe box, which includes family and personal favorites on note cards and put them in a personally decorated box.
Take your nephews and nieces, elderly relatives, or your harried neighbors' young children out on a special day in December to give their parents and or/caregivers a much-deserved break. A half-hour walk in the park, with a thermos of hot drinks, freshly-baked goodies and good conversation will keep everyone warm. You can also visit a museum or just go for a ride around town at night looking at Christmas lights and eating munchies.
Celebrate an international Christmas by having an afternoon tea with homemade cookies from around the world (you can feature a little flag on each plate). Check out http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/bycountry for recipes. To make it more lively, play a Christmas trivia game by assembling a set of questions about Christmas (the Web has 163 million entries for "Christmas" alone).
Visit the elderly in nursing homes and be prepared to sing some Christmas carols.
Help out at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter on Christmas Eve.
Prepare a Christmas basket for someone who is going through rough times.
Use cartoon pages of newspapers and colorful pages of magazines as gift wrap.
Give a daughter, niece or granddaughter, the pair of earrings or necklace that she has always admired.
Collect tins from relatives and friends and return them as care packages (e.g. stuff them with chocolates, scented candles, baked goodies).
Shop at fair trade stores like the Mennonite-run Ten Thousand Villages (online), which sells products that provide employment to co-operatives in developing countries.
Suggest a spending limit of $10 or less; challenge everyone to stick to it and be creative.
Check out the online catalogues of church and non-profit Organizations which suggest alternative gifts: e.g. www.covchurch.org/cwr, www.unicef.org, www.oxfamamerica.org, www.beyondborders.net, www.worldvision.org, and www.invisiblechildren.com.
To discuss different opportunities or to find out more about how to serve Santa Barbara this Christmas season contact Pastor Jon Lemmond, jonucsb@yahoo.com
1 comment:
LOVE this list, Jon. Thanks so much for putting it together.
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