Christmas Crap

Amidst everything else that goes on at this time of year today December 6th is Saint Nicholas Day, known to us of more Germanic Origin as Santa Claus...I looked around our house the other day and saw that there were more statues of him than of the stable at Bethlehem!
None of them looked like the venerable icon pictured here most like the joke at the foot of the page.
What we miss of course is that Saint Nicholas is quite a good sort of role model. A Bishop known for secret charity...dropping gold coins down the chimney of a house so that the three daughters would not be sold into slavery...yes that's what those chocolate coins are all about.
Most of the "crap" (and I use this term advisedly!) of Christmas is like this, there is good and challenging insight in what is being proposed. Like isn't it good that we live in a world where children are not sold into slavery..or do we? (here if you can bear to put down your mince pie)
And maybe we should be trying to think of just one thing we can do this Christmas that might not be me-focussed!
Otherwise it is just a whole lot of crap isn't it?

We are the world

What next? Yesterday's Religion Report reminded that nothing we do, eat, see or enjoy is without taint. (For traditional Christians this is nothing new!)

The focus...chocolate. British social activist, Steve Chalke reminded the listeners that in many places the production of chocolate is only made possible by  low cost labour  provided by children sold into slave-like conditions. This does not suprise us. 

Rather we choose to be ignorant, I guess. 

The same point has been made about coffee in times past, and it is now obvious and clear that we should look for the "fair trade" markings on almost anything.

Fair Trade is a new and necessary buzz word/concept. It applies to coffee, rice, clothing manufacture and anything else that we, the greedy West, demand that the poor make for us, to satisfy our insatiable greed.

Nothing we do, eat or use is morally neutral. Our response to that has usually (as I say) to just be plain dumb about it. 

If we are to be responsible we have to do a bit better than that.

It is popping up all around us though, isn't it?

The trafficking of people...worth more than the global illegal drugs industry.

The rebuilding of the devastated Iraq attracting the poorest of the Asian poor (here)

It is almost all we can do to worry about whether or not we can have drippers on our lawns.

We just simply have to do better!

Today, by the way, is the memoria of Vincent de Paul.  To whom we have generously given bags and bags of unwanted clothes in the last few weeks. The tribute to our own unending need to have stuff without end!