In an ongoing effort to avoid work that would actually go towards, say, a B.A. in Religious Studies, I’m going to start my Advent 08 talks with one that comes up amongst the newly married, like myself – The need for compromise and the joining of two traditions into a new tradition.
As Andy Crouch puts it, the family is the primary cultural unit. Why did I add that? It’s because (almost) everything you will attribute to Christmas, how you’ll do Christmas, who you’ll spend Christmas with, and when you start celebrating Christmas comes from (or comes as a reaction to) your family. Now that I am happily and newly married, this means that two cultures are coming together with differing views of how to do Christmas/Advent.
This leads right into a little confession: I started Christmas celebrations a week early. Christine decided that last week was really the best time to set up the tree, and since I didn’t want to leave her to do it herself/not take part in what I think is integral to the season (setting up), I broke my own ‘Not-until-Advent’ rule. These things happen, and I’m sure I’ll have to give on other things as well.
Luckily, we argued about Christmas last year. Instead of trying to synthesize our entire two traditions into a composite tradition interval, like many of my friends have done over the years, we will be attempting to create our own traditions for Christmas. This is both exciting and scary, since it is a big departure for both Christine and I, though I did spend Christmas in her tradition and with her family last year, so I may be slightly more prepared for the culture-change.
Most of all, I’m trying to keep everything in perspective. Throughout this season, I’ll be dropping lots of song lyrics, since song is integral to this season. The song that has, and will always, help keep me in perspective, is First Christmas, by Stan Rogers:
This day a year ago, he was rolling in the snow
With a younger brother in his father’s yard
Christmas break, a time for touching home,
the heart of all he’d known
And leaving was so hard
Three thousand miles away,
now he’s working Christmas Day
Making double time for the minding of the store
Well he always said, he’d make it on his own
He’s spending Christmas Eve alone
First Christmas away from home
She’s standing by the train station,
pan-handling for change
Four more dollars buys a decent meal and a room
Looks like the Sally Ann place after all,
in a crowded sleeping hall
That echoes like a tomb
But it’s warm and clean and free,
and there are worse places to be
At least it means no beating from her Dad
And if she cries because it’s Christmas Day
She hopes that it won’t show
First Christmas away from home
In the apartment stands a tree,
and it looks so small and bare
Not like it was meant to be,
Golden angel on the top
It’s not that same old silver star,
you wanted for your own
First Christmas away from home
In the morning, they get prayers,
then it’s crafts and tea downstairs
Then another meal back in his little room
Hoping maybe that “the boys”
will think to phone before the day is gone
Well, it’s best they do it soon
When the “old girl” passed away,
he fell apart more every day
Each had always kept the other pretty well
But the kids all said the nursing home was best
Cause he couldn’t live alone
First Christmas away from home
In the common room they’ve got the biggest tree
And it’s huge and cold and lifeless
Not like it ought to be,
and the lit-up flashing Santa Claus on top
It’s not that same old silver star,
you once made for your own
First Christmas away from home
If it is your first Christmas away from home, I pray you find peace in your new traditions.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 2, 2008 at 12:47 am, filed under Culture and tagged Advent, Christmas, Culture, Family. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Charities seem to be different these days.
I mean, I think about charities that have been around forever (relative to my 20-some years of awareness outside of my own family) like United Way, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Christian Children’s Fund, and Worldvision, and I think about rocks within my community – stable, unobtrusive, and fairly low-key. I see them as the charities of my parents: heirarchical, top-down, Modernist, and somewhat outdated. First, let me say that I’m not trying to put down any of these organizations – I’ve donated to almost all of the above charitable organizations without regret – but I don’t see a spread, a growth, or a story.
Each one of the above have pretty much done things the same way, organizationally and communicatively, for as long as I can remember. If something isn’t broke, don’t fix it, right? This worries me because as we move into an ever-evolving post-modern internet culture where information is in excess and meaning is in short supply, I’m not sure these organizations know how to tell their stories to a new generation.
The reason I’ve been thinking about this is because I’ve been thinking about a few charities of late that have really touched me. Let me outline a few:
I think what’s different about these charities is not that they are hip, attractive, and cutting-edge in website design (though that helps), but I think its because they have all centered themselves around, and deeply invested themselves in, meaningful stories. Meaning and purpose drip from these charities, and catch my eye because they speak my language.
The vet charities will hopefully be around forever because of the need they fill, and people fill that need because of what they know it does good, but it seems that they are organizations and not people; faceless constructs intent on supplying the world with good. My fear is that without change, these might indeed become relics in history.
Luckily there are a few that have picked up on this for the vets too and have done something about it. My friend, Tim Bailey, decided to see for himself what Compassion does with the money he donates to sponsor a young one, and he went to Haiti and made a movie about it. The movie is great. It connected with me and gave meaning to sponsoring children. I hope to do the same in a few years in Thailand with Isaiah 61 Project.
Where do we go from here? Well we need to find our way into these giants of charity work in North America (primarily) and help them regain a story and a meaning that will connect themselves with the generation at hand.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on November 15, 2008 at 2:58 am, filed under Activism, Culture and tagged Charity, Christian Children's Fund, Compassion, Goodwill, Isaiah 61 Project, Love Knits, Meaning, Millenials, Salvation Army, Treasures, TWLOHA, United Way, Worldvision. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.