Day 25: Christ the King Sunday

One more week until Advent begins. And, now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, the signs of the holiday season are coming out: Christmas lights and trees going up, holiday music on the radio, and planning time for holiday parties at work. However, the most noticeable sign to me is the holiday commercials that are now in full force as they play Christmas jingles and beckon us to go to this "can't-miss" sale or to buy [insert advertised item here] to show your loved ones just how much you love them.

I'm not against gift-giving for Christmas, but I do think there's a tendency to go overboard and miss the point of this holiday. People go into debt this time of year, and why? To prove their love by giving financially extravagant gifts for a holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ? It's sad that showing your love for others is equated with giving them expensive gifts. The more expensive, the more you love them. Or so the diamond-jewelry commercials would have us believe.

As I consider how to approach the holiday season this week, and as I attempt to finish up this crazy blog-every-day-for-the-month-of-November thing, I'd like to explore alternatives to the debt-inducing, commercialized Christmas that can be so tempting to buy into.

Yesterday I posted a link to Advent Conspiracy. I really like the ideas and actions they're promoting for this Christmas season. Their (re)vision for this Advent is fourfold:

1. Worship more (by aligning ourselves with Christ)

2. Spend less (by not buying loads of stuff that nobody really needs)

3. Give more (by giving more relationally and spending quality time together)

4. Love all (by giving to charity)

For the next few days, I'd like to explore some ideas for how to Give More relationally, and highlight a few charities that allow us to Love All by donating to those in need. Let me know your thoughts and ideas - are there any relational gift ideas or charities you'd recommend?