Poverty
If something needs doing, then do something about it.
Don’t just hope that someone else will.
What is everybody’s business is also someone’s business.
(Edward De Bono)
Third World?
The term 'Third World' is a disgusting attempt to distance
Western culture from poverty and despair.
People are
people,
irrespective of where they were born.
In a world that has so much
wealth, so much excess and waste - no one should
go without
food or
shelter.
There is only one world.
Donate
If you do not want to give cash, just clear out your wardrobe.
Whenever you buy something new, take something old to the charity shop - it
makes more space in your house and the sale of the goods will
profit
somebody else.
Greed
Many people in the West buy what they want when they want it (within
reason).
They overeat, overindulge and worry about losing weight.
Greed is at the root of this.
'Wanting' and 'needing' are not the same thing at all.
Obesity is on the rise in the West, whilst the 'Third World' goes
hungry.
Weddings
What exactly is a wedding about these days?
Instead of a sincere commitment between two people, it has become a travesty
of greed and extravagance.
Birthdays
Do you need a birthday present?
In what way does it help you to celebrate your birth, your contribution to
existence?
'Contribution' is what you
give, not what
you ask for.
Be wary of your own greed - feel how ingrained and habitual it is.
If you want to buy a gift, consider a charity:
http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com
Christmas
What will you be doing on December 25th?
Will you be opening presents you don’t need, eating too much food and going
through the motions for another year?
How about the people who cannot afford Christmas?
Very
few people actually appreciate how wealthy they are and how much we take
that wealth for granted.
Alternate Christmas?
Imagine refusing to buy anyone a present or even a card?
Say no to the greed, to the commercialism, to the blind conformity of it
all...
How much money have you just saved?
Now give it all away.
Consider donating the money to charity.
Or go out on Christmas morning and help to feed the homeless.
Or knock on the doors of lonely old people in your community - give them
food and some of your time and attention.
Help the poor, the forgotten, the lost, the lonely, the needy.
Suddenly, it sounds rather like Christmas again.
http://www.caringatchristmas.org.uk
Page created 25 June 2000