Can we undo the consumer frenzy of Christmas?
I am told that there are 'but' 83 days, 15 hours, 41 minutes and 46 seconds until Christmas. Although the autumn term has only just started, there is already a sense that Christmas, with its relentless build upwardly to the frenetic worship at the chantry of Mammon, is but around the corner.
Christmas is the biggest consumer festival in our calendar, and I am fed up with information technology. In 2014, a conservative estimate of the festive spending in the Uk alone was £26bn: an average of £495 per adult (with a similar sum of effectually $750 spent in the The states). Christmas-related industries account for virtually i-tertiary of annual retail activity in both countries.
So says Ruth Grayson in her Grove Spirituality bookletReviving Advent, Reclaiming Christmas. Ruth offers an intriguing suggestion: that if we go Appearance right, it volition address many of the bug we face in celebrating Christmas.
My written report has 3 chief aims. First, I suggest that the best antidote both to the dominance of the market and the demands of the church in the pre-Christmas season and at Christmas itself is a re-thinking and revival of our Advent practices. We need to set these firmly in the context of training for Christ's coming, and to separate them equally far every bit possible from the capitalism that pervades the flavour.
Secondly, whether nosotros regard Advent as anticipation of the nascency or of the return of Christ, I maintain that our preparations for the ii events should be the same. Throughout the book, I will explore the tension between our religious practices and our consumer habits. Twin themes in the book are gifts and giving on the 1 paw, and finding new ways of observing Advent on the other. By the cease of the study, the two themes will ideally become inextricably linked.
Thirdly, I am attempting to fill an apparent gap in the material available to churches, groups, and individuals on this field of study. Unlike Lent, for which many study guides be, there are relatively few works on Advent. In view of the importance of Christmas in the church calendar, it is remarkable that Advent generates far fewer resources than Lent for study and prayer. Perhaps this itself indicates a lack of time to devote to quiet reflection, in our various groups and churches, during the frenetic festive season.
After exploring the origins of Appearance and the stories of the nascency of Jesus, she looks at biblical texts on the preparation for the coming of Messiah, and in particular the office of John the Baptist.
John answers their question as to how they should set to meet the Messiah thus: 'Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise' (v eleven). Similarly, specific groups such as soldiers and tax collectors are enjoined to treat people adequately and not to exert undue pressure on anyone (vv 12–14)…
To add together to the other ironies of the flavour, our bodily practices tend to be the complete reverse of this advice. Instead of sharing the possessions, nutrient and clothing that we already accept, we often acquire more of them in our Christmas preparations. It could be argued that we are acquiring more in order to give away more than, simply that is non the bespeak. Rather, it is that many of us—whose circumstances are affluent by the standards of most of the world—already have more than enough for our ain needs and could find ways of sharing it with those who have less than we do (see Matt vi.nineteen–21). Advent and Christmas could become, literally, a heaven-sent opportunity to put into practice the ideas of jubilee—non just of absolving impoverished peoples of their debts but of actually helping to pay those debts.
After then exploring the problems around our expectation of Jesus' render, she comes dorsum to the question of how we gloat in the present, and has some radical suggestions about the church calendar and how nosotros utilise information technology:
I fashion of taking the pressure off Christmas Day within the church might exist to redefine the calendar limits of Advent itself. Originally, it lasted longer than four weeks. It might be worth restoring this longer period, every bit still observed in the Orthodox tradition. Information technology could begin on Christ the Rex Lord's day, one week earlier the present Advent Sunday… Such a alter could be marked symbolically by lighting a fundamental candle on the wreath on Christ the Male monarch Sunday, to signify Jesus' centrality to the whole season. Normally this candle is not lit until Christmas Solar day. Only since information technology symbolizes Christ's eternal kingship, lighting information technology then would exist symbolic of the continuing link between the 2 days.
Information technology may also be possible to reschedule church services and activities so that more of them take place within this period: the and then-chosen 'Twelve Days of Christmas,' which stop with Epiphany. Instead of cramming actress ballad services, nativity plays, and children's events into the fortnight earlier Christmas and thus appearing to endorse a very narrow estimation of the nascency, some of these could well be held afterward. This would, in turn, clear the mode for churches to offer a very different pro- gramme during much of December, assuasive for repose retreats, 'shopping-complimentary' days, and services encouraging reflection and meditation.
It seems to me that Ruth is setting out some practical ways we could alter our practice to accost real problems around the Christmas catamenia. To explore them further, yous tin society the booklet on the Grove website and it is sent postal service-free.
Every bit nosotros look forward to our preparations for Advent, here is a reminder of some relevant posts from the past:
Should Lent and Advent Bandy? which explores many of the same issues every bit Ruth does in her booklet.
Making Sense of the Second Coming which looks at how to translate the puzzling passage in Matt 24
Jesus Wasn't Born at Christmas which looks at the bug round dating the birth
Preaching on Advent one offers reflections on the lectionary readings
The Meaning of the Sheep and the Goats tackles the common misunderstanding of Matt 25
How Should we Read Mark xiii addresses the issues in the passage related to Matt 24
Follow me on Twitter @psephizo
Much of my work is done on a freelance basis. If you have valued this mail, would yous considerdonating £1.20 a month to back up the product of this blog?
If you enjoyed this, do share information technology on social media (Facebook or Twitter) using the buttons on the left. Follow me on Twitter @psephizo. Like my page on Facebook.
Much of my work is done on a freelance basis. If you have valued this postal service, yous tin can make a unmarried or repeat donation through PayPal:
For other ways to support this ministry, visit my Support page.
Comments policy: Good comments that appoint with the content of the post, and share in respectful debate, can add together real value. Seek starting time to understand, so to be understood. Brand the most charitable construal of the views of others and seek to larn from their perspectives. Don't view fence every bit a conflict to win; accost the argument rather than tackling the person.
Source: https://www.psephizo.com/life-ministry/can-we-undo-the-consumer-frenzy-of-christmas/
0 Response to "Can we undo the consumer frenzy of Christmas?"
Yorum Gönder