What to Give For Christmas
Christmas. It’s about people. It’s about love and caring and sharing. My wish this Christmas is to inspire people to cut down on the trappings of life, increase our joyful memories, lighten our ecological footprint and help build global community at the same time. Let’s begin in India.
Rupa Kumar is the director of the CORDI Women’s Centre. Rupa shared with me once about how they celebrate Christmas in Chennai, India. The part that stood out the most for me was the singing of Carols on Christmas Eve. They do it a little differently than we do. Rupa says they go out about midnight after the service and go to people’s houses and sing carols and then get invited into the recipient’s home for a sharing of love and hope and light snacks. This goes on for quite a while. Rupa tells me that after three o’clock in the morning sometimes they have to sing four or five or more carols ever increasing in boisterousness before the people will get up and come downstairs and invite the carolers into their homes. This usually finishes up by sunrise Christmas morning.
I don’t know about you but most people I know may have a problem with this middle-of-the-night awakening. In south India where Rupa lives this is an important ritual and people hope and expect to participate in it. People are at the center of the celebrations, sharing and making memories. Our memories tell us what is most important in life.
David Suzuki ended his impassioned talk at World Accord’s recent event by sharing a personal story about one of his last visits with his 85 year old father before his passing. That visit lasted a month and was one of the best visits he’d ever had. They shared stories and memories, laughter and tears sometimes both at the same time. As Dr. Suzuki puts it, “In all our weeks together, he never talked about a set of fancy clothes, a big car or a special house – that’s just stuff.” Every memory worth keeping and worth sharing was about time spent doing things with friends and family; the people of his community. Things like fishing, camping or hiking. In David Suzuki’s case it was nearly always something involving nature.
Think about your most precious memories. Are they about stuff – things you have managed to accumulate? Or are they about friends and family? I would guess that even if a “thing” was involved, it was the sharing of it with someone special that made it a memory worth keeping.
In order to help make some fabulous memories this year, why not give gifts that aren’t about stuff but about sharing time and experience? What gifts could you give someone that would allow you to share precious time with them? Dinner, dance lessons, a cooking class (together of course), a canoe trip or tickets to live theatre are among the thousands of choices you have at your fingertips. You could also give a gift that would allow your kids to do something special with their friends helping them build treasured memories. Not every gift we give has to end up in a landfill some day. Certainly your gifts to World Accord can make a difference that will last a lifetime and beyond.
Tara Nirayla is from the village of Karabari in eastern Nepal. She is a village leader in what has become a beautiful community. After a few years this village is ready to move beyond our support. The people are happy and healthy, excited and hopeful for their future.
David Suzuki also talked about the blurring (and even disappearance) of the line between our wants and our needs. Even what would once be considered a nice-to-have or an extravagance has now become a need. What about the developing world? In most areas where we work, the programs you support can make the difference between two or three meals a day, or being able to afford medicine for a sick child or shoes so a child can attend school. In my book those are needs and having to choose between medicine and food is no choice at all.
Like cherished memories, gifts to World Accord have the possibility of lasting so much longer than many of the things we spend spend so much on these days. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
On behalf of the staff and volunteers at World Accord, all our partners and the thousands of program participants around the world, I wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas of Joy, Hope, Love and Peace. May you create many new memories to cherish for a lifetime.
David Barth, Executive Director