“what do you want for Christmas?”
…
…
…
nothing.
nothing? Yep, there is nothing I want… how strange.
But alas it takes no more than a quick visit to the mall or peruse through the Christmas mailers to fill my head with wants, ’tis the season to be giving getting after all.
Their is not much giving anymore.
If we’re not getting for ourselves we’re getting for others so that we may in return get. Or sometimes it’s a simpler transaction, just an exchange of cash, “go buy what you want”.
We give poorly, my mum is in Cambodia on a short missions trip with her school, so much of what was donated was junk, easier to donate than take it to the dump.
So it’s on this rainy summers day I find myself with the time to do something I’ve wanted to do for a while, to help resist that consumerist-christmas urge, to downsize, to give.
I pulled out all the clothes I hadn’t worn in the last couple of weeks and proceeded to sort & bag most.
Aware that we often give our leftovers, unwanted & junk, I chose to show no bias to those sentimental favorites…
I said sad goodbyes to C-web & MJ college jerseys, football favorites and items put aside deemed too special to wear.
Sometime after 25 T’s, 15 tops/jeans, jerseys, shorts, shoes and hats… I lost count. My goal was to give away 75%, I think I came close to that.
17 bags later & it was off to various clothing bins & stores.
I didn’t do this to earn brownie-points with God or because I believe in some sort of cosmic karma, to earn kudos from friends or show you what a good person I am…
it’s the opposite, I’m not.
It’s because I so easily give in to the impulsive buy, the want it-need it-latest greatest and must have. This is my way of trying to resist that.
It’s because I believe in a God that has given so we may give… not so I can continue to get.
This is my confession, while others have suffered without, I have lived in abundance.
What I want for Christmas…
is to give.
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I know you weren’t in it for the kudos but, er, kudos!
It’s the best cure for our cultural addiction to consumerism. It’s also exactly why I think tithing is an important spiritual discipline.
Great stuff, Tim. You’ve reminded me again that giving frees me from the bondage of needing to have and get.
thanks Mike, tithing is still something I’m challenged with.