Faith Meets Life: A conspiracy to cure gift fatigue

Soon, the last issue of the Interrobang before Christmas 2009 will be in student cafeterias and lounging spaces. With holiday break less than a month away I find myself already starting to think about buying and giving presents for Christmas.

There are a lot of ways people can spend their time, and gift giving and receiving is not by any means the worst of them. There's a satisfaction in choosing gifts that the receiver will like as well as in receiving a gift that someone has chosen with care. Especially where family and close friends are involved, and even more so if you have small children, giving presents can be fantastic.

At the same time for many people gift fatigue sets in, if not before Christmas day itself, at least by the morning after. Many gifts are things we don't really need. Sometimes it's stuff we don't even want. Often they are things the purchaser can barely afford. And many gifts generate short-term excitement followed by longer-term boredom.

I think it was last year that I first learned about Advent Conspiracy, or AC. “Advent” is a term used by Christians. It means the 40 days before Christmas day itself, a time of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, God being born as a human being. The “Conspiracy” is this: That we can spend a little less, give a little more and love others who are in trouble. That's the way God wants us to live and the way that Jesus Christ came to affirm and introduce in a fresh way.

One of the main goals of AC is to raise money for wells in developing regions. Its website states that 340 wells have already been dug using donations generated by the program.

From the look of the website, although AC is aimed at churches, any student group or organization could plug in. Participants are asked to give money in proportion to their reduced Christmas spending.

But even if AC doesn't appeal to you, perhaps the concept does, and if so it opens up a great way to do Christmas this year.

There are a lot of neat efforts taking place around the world to make it a better place, efforts worthy of our support. Besides the water projects supported by the AC, think of Amnesty International, World Vision, and any number of other helping organizations. We in the western developed nations, funnel untold trillions of dollars into war and the piling up of personal possessions. What if we made a conscious decision to cut back on the overspending that tempts us every Christmas and, instead, raised our financial support (or other kinds of support) for groups and projects that are focused on working with people where they live, allowing them to improve their lives?

Advent Conspiracy will be too Christian for some readers. But anyone can do the kind of thing it encourages on his or her own terms. Then, perhaps those of us who have a hard time understanding the Christian message of Christmas and God's revolutionary love will better understand those who do. By expressing love in concrete ways for people in trouble, one can gain a greater appreciation for Jesus Christ who taught us to “love our neighbour as ourselves,” the same one whose birth will be celebrated globally in a few weeks.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.