Day 30: The end

There are 15 minutes remaining in the month of November, and I just got home for the first time since I left for work this morning. Some friends and I just saw a movie -- Lars and the Real Girl -- that is unlike any other movie I've seen. There were some very funny parts (well, funny to me, at least...I have an odd sense of humor, though), but it was also kind of sad and touching. And very odd. Not that I think that's a bad thing. I think some people didn't like it for that reason, though, which is understandable.

And now it is four minutes until midnight, so I'd better wrap this up and post this thing. Happy December!

Day 29: Hurry up and write

I'm going to take an intermission from my advent series of posts tonight. It's not that I've run out of ideas about that....On the contrary, there is much I'd like to write, but I simply don't have enough time tonight to do it justice. So, for today's "Day 29" post, I'm going to write about writing, and how it relates to this past month for me.

As for the advent topic, I have an essay-like post developing itself in my mind right now. The focus for it is still coming in bits and pieces and making little connections in unexpected places as I work backward from the big picture. I thoroughly enjoy this part of the process, so I don't want to rush it. Even so, a part of me is tempted to stay up way past my bedtime tonight to hurriedly write it and just get it out and post it before midnight for my Day 29 post. However, I'd rather not push this one out prematurely and have it end up being half-assed. I do that sometimes, in my haste to have new content, and then I end up wanting to delete it (and sometimes do) the next day or so. Such is the nature of a blog, I suppose.

I think there's this expectation that I sometimes put on myself that I should be able to sit down at the computer and write non-stop without taking a day (or two or three) to just think through and process what I'm going to write next, or to not even think about anything writing-related for a day (like that would ever happen). However, a huge part of the writing process, at least for me, involves just that - time to process. And now, with only one day left in this writing-frenzied month, that's what I've come to miss a great deal -- the process time.

Hurry ruins saints as well as artists. They want quick success and they are in such haste to get it that they cannot take time to be true to themselves. And when the madness is upon them they argue that their very haste is a species of integrity.

--Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Day 28: Can't buy me love

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty. --Mother Teresa

My last two posts have focused on charities, which goes along with what the Advent Conspiracy calls "loving all" by giving to charity the extra money that normally would have been spent on overly-extravagant Christmas gifts for friends and family. The agape love exemplified in this charitable giving is a great way to share our resources with people around the world who are in need of our generosity.

But what am I to give my friends and family for Christmas, if not material gifts or gift-certificates? This is where the "give more" component of the conspiracy comes in. At first glance, it seems paradoxical to say "give more" by spending less money on what gifts I give.

However, I understand this concept as a call to give more than just something that can be bought off the shelf of any store.

As in more thought and care.

More quality time and attention.

More love.

Relational giving is more about being present with someone you care about than it is about buying that someone a present to show you care. It's the gift of sharing time together, or of creating something unique with that person in mind -- something personalized, like a piece of art or a picture or a poem. Or something that combines time together with creating something special, like cooking his or her favorite meal to eat together, or taking the time to teach your friend to do something that you know how to do, such as giving a fun skein of yarn and teaching your friend how to knit.

Here is a list of some more ideas for relational gifts. Any other ideas for this type of gift-giving?

Day 27: All Creatures of Our God and King (Charitable gifts, part II)

I've been getting countless holiday gift catalogs in the mail. Just last week I got five catalogs in one day. One was for a department store. Another for makeup.

And then there was the Victoria's Secret holiday catalog, because just what I need for Christmas is another bra. Especially a diamond-and-gemstone-encrusted bra that costs $4.5 million. That's just a tad superfluous, don't you think? Has anyone ever actually ordered one of those? Even if you had $4.5 million dollars to spare, in what public place would you wear that, anyway, without looking all flashy-meets-trashy? And wouldn't the price go up with a larger cup size? That could take a lot of extra diamonds. Talk about having some bling...

My blinged-out bra tirade aside, there was another catalog addressed to me that caught my attention, for less obnoxious reasons. It was a gift catalog for Heifer International. On the back, instead of showing an airbrushed, scantily-clad (and unrealistically thin-yet-curvy) model with a glossy-lipped pout on her face, this catalog showed a photograph of two smiling African children holding a baby goat. The copy next to the photo said: "Give a life-changing gift to Heifer International in honor of a friend or loved one. It's a gift that brings promise to hungry families and the opportunity for a better life to the less fortunate. Giving a Heifer gift takes the stress out of shopping while putting the meaning back into giving." (If you aren't familiar with the organization, you can read more about Heifer's solutions for ending world hunger and poverty here).

They also have an online version of their gift catalog, where you can "choose a meaningful gift to give a loved one and help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant." It's fun to look at the different gift animals available, even honeybees. Personally, I wouldn't consider it a gift to receive bees, but that's because I'm a wee bit afraid of those little creatures. Despite my completely rational fear of them, I can appreciate how even bees can be a blessing.

Other gift animals to choose from include cows, sheep, llamas (I heart llamas), chicks, and rabbits, just to name a few. It's really interesting to read about each animal and how they help provide for the families to which they're donated. What a beautiful gift!

Photo from Heifer International.

Day 26: Those who thirst (need clean water)

I had trouble falling asleep and got about five hours of sleep last night. That made for an interesting Monday morning.

This is not all that unusual for me, though. I'm a night owl and somehow get a surge of energy around 11 p.m., regardless of how tired I may have been all day. This does not bode well for someone who has to work regular office hours, as I do. Thus, a few minutes ago I took a Benadryl. It usually does the trick to knock me out at a decent hour. If what I'm writing here doesn't make much sense, I blame it on the sleep-deprivation and the Benadryl, by the way.

Right now I'm still awake, but the drowsiness is setting in as I drink the rest of the water from the glass I filled to swallow down that little pink pill. Most of the time I take for granted that I can go to the faucet and pour myself a glass of clean water whenever I want it. Before it reaches my faucet, this water goes through quite the process to get drinkable and flowing out of my tap, yet it seems like a given to me that I will always have it when I need it. Often I forget how fortunate I am for this seemingly simple access to clean water. And now comes the point to all of this...

It seems hard to fathom, but over a billion people around the world do not have access to drinkable water. Something that is a necessity for all living beings should not be so scarce for so many. Therefore, as part of my plan this week to highlight charities for giving this holiday season, here are two clean water charities to look into (and there are also many more great charities for clean water if these two don't float your boat):

Blood:Water Mission and their 1000 Wells Project ($1 = one year of water for an African)

Living Water International, through the Advent Conspiracy

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?

Day 24: Tis the season

It's getting late and I need to get up early to help out at church tomorrow. But for some reason I'm still trying to post on here every day. I figure if I've made it this far, then I might as well go the distance, right?

I'll write more about it tomorrow, but check out this Web site.