A Conspiracy with Twinkle Lights
November 2nd, 2007 by AjToday I put away the jack-o-lantern candles and the “boo” candle holders. Halloween has come and gone. What does that mean? Knock knock: hello, onslaught of Christmas mayhem. Big Box Stores are already on top of the frenzy: WalMart had their first “Black Friday” sale - you know the sale that’s supposed to come *after* Thanksgiving, not after Halloween?
It makes my heart hurt, both thinking of the preparations that I can never get on top of as well as thinking of the objectification Christmas has become - consuming, not giving as God gave to us.
While listening to an Imago Dei podcast during a 3am feeding, I became interested in Rick McKinley’s mention of The Advent Conspiracy: an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshipping Jesus through compassion, not consumption.
I wonder what others would think if they weren’t on board with the concept: it wouldn’t necessarily be easy to explain to others who expect some goodies at the holiday season. You know how it feels when someone makes a donation “in your name” - except it’s to a cause they enjoy, but not so much you? But then again, this would certainly open up doors for conversation, eh?
It wouldn’t necessarily be easy to make such a countercultural expression of the holidays, but it would be good. Making presents takes time: buying “stuff” can be so much quicker. Except for when the bills pour in and we’re trying to work off the Christmas cheer/debt. Our most recent Beth Moore bible study had a statement: “stop equating hard with bad.”
What would this look like for you? What would it look like to worship more and spend less?
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November 2nd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Our decision this year may not have been motivated by worship, but the “kids” in our family are pooling our money and giving to EFM this year instead of presents to each other. We also contemplated getting a Kiva loan together and contributing to a new loan every year. It just makes life simpler and takes the unnecessary “stuff” out of our lives. It’s interesting how we contemplate Christmas more when we are older. Tim and I have been talking about making sure our kids understand that and we aren’t over-commercializing Christmas for them.