Christmas is coming. And if I’m honest, I get a bit tired of it sometimes.
Obviously I know the whole Jesus malarky is quite good – as are the family get- togethers, the nice food and (if we’re lucky) snow.
But I do get a bit jaded by the rampant commercialism of it all, and the “thou shalt spend” message that gets rammed down our throats. I’ve often thought it would be nice to do something different with Christmas, if only a good enough idea could occur to me.
But then Join Me’s Karmageddon charity plans sprung to mind. The Leader, Danny Wallace, has designated International Care and Relief as Karmageddon 4’s nominated charity, and has challenged us to raise £5,000 to equip a school in Kenya. There are various things being done by The Leader and joinees to raise funds, such as an auction, and I thought it might be nice to do my bit.
So I have proposed to my family that they don’t give me any presents, and I don’t give them any, and we instead give what we would have spent to Danny’s project (although I’m making an exception and still buying a present for my 1 year old nephew, who’s not really in a position to negotiate!).
I know Christians are called to give to good causes privately, so feel a bit bad going “public” here. However I’m writing this to raise the profile of the good works that Join Me does.
Oh yes, and if you’re a friend or relative who never got my message, or even if you’re a total random who feels compelled to buy me a present, I’d rather you gave to the project and not me. It’s easy to donate online: it’s quick, safe, secure, won’t hurt any animals, and no salesmen will call.
Thanks.
Friday December 1 2006 at 12:22 am |
Thought it was the Grinch who stole Christmas.
This is one of these good ideas where you should do the one
without neglecting the other .
Friday December 1 2006 at 12:12 pm |
Speaking of Christmas here’s my spin on things.
Having just moved here from Canada can I just say how refreshing it is to actually see the season properly being referred to as “Christmas”. In North America the Political Correctness police are doing their damnedest to remove Christ from Christmas and more and more the cards say Happy Holidays, or Seasons Greetings or the worst of all Merry Xmas. If it wasn’t for Christ there wouldn’t be the holiday. People from other faiths seem to grasp this concept.
The city my parents live in have a high Sikh and Muslim population base and that area seems to be the first to put up the Christmas lights and trees. I remember one TV station had a man on the street type thing where various people were giving their wishes for the holiday. It was only the white middle class Anglo-Saxon types that refused to say the word “Christmas”.
Chris
Friday December 1 2006 at 5:51 pm |
Chris, I understand what you’re saying. I’ve had to take the Christ out of my name too, so am now introduced as Mr Xie, which as everyone knows is Chinese. And unless I get on my knees and squint, I really don’t look Chinese.
Monday December 4 2006 at 12:02 pm |
Anyone who has already bought presents for Simon can pass them on to me. He obviously doesn’t want them. Nev, I saw you during your massive world cup challenge all those years ago….you looked and sounded pretty chinese to me.
Friday December 15 2006 at 5:15 am |
What is Join Me?
Friday December 15 2006 at 11:05 am |
Hi Jenny, thanks for visiting!
Join Me is a cult. But a nice one. Led by a man who wears glasses and drinks tea a lot. It’s about doing random acts of kindness on a Friday. See http://www.joinme.info or read the book.
And don’t worry it’s not dodgy at all – as The Leader himself says, “there’s no space travel involved, and mass suicides are generally frowned upon”.
Saturday December 16 2006 at 3:41 pm |
Only on Friday? What happens if you find yourself committing a random act of kindness on, say, Wednesday?
Also, I like your smiley face at the bottom of your page.