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Give the Gift of Disturbing

November 27, 2006

Christmas is around the corner, and the pressure to get good gifts is on. I’ve recently discovered that Christmas is a good time to spread the word on good movies, music, and books; as well as develop new traditions that stray from the typical traditions of buying stuff and eating too much.

I like the idea of being disturbed at Christmas, not in the typical negative way, but more like how Christ disturbed this world with his birth. Aside from connotations of mental illness disturbed can mean agitated. Christ agitated the powers and principalities of this world with his entry into this world, but also his life thereafter. As we celebrate that I hope we can be pushed to the similar places. I’ll be putting some gift ideas, i.e. movies, books, and other sorts of things that may help us along that path…not just gifts for entertainment and enjoyment, but also to disturb us.

A cool Christmas/advent read is “whose birthday is it anyway?” put out by Alternatives for Simple Living. Whose B’day is full of reflections, fun activities, and good ideas for a de-commercialized Christmas.

One cool example for families is “Gifts of Kindness”. This family took a shoebox, cut a whole in top, and wrote “to Jesus, from (family member’s names)”. Then each family member tried to do three acts of kindness a week that were out of the ordinary. They wrote down the act and put it in the box. On Christmas day they opened it up and read them aloud. Kind of cheesy, but I think it’s a really cool alternative to kids stuffing their faces with candy and fighting over toys.

If you are interested in this resource email me at filetaj@micahchallenge.us and let me know, I’d be happy to send you ANY AMOUNT

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Ok, gift ideas. We’ll start with movies:

  • The Power of One, Apartheid South Africa
  • John Q, healthcare injustice in the U.S.
  • Lord of War, Small arms trade
  • Gandhi, No expl. needed
  • The Mission, Jesuits in South America, colonialism
  • Romero, Archbishop in El Salvador during trying times
  • City of God, Gangs in brazil and child poverty

Those are just a few of my favorite movies that are inspiring, disturbing (in that good way), worth watching with or giving to friends and family.

I’ll post some book ideas later this week. Please bombard me with your own movie/music/book/tradition/shopping/anything ideas for a more refreshing holiday!

Posted by filetaj on November 27, 2006 12:56 PM

Comments

- Magazine subscriptions: Sojourners, Ode, Relevant

- Tickets to a socially conscious movie: I like documentaries, so there's The Great Warming or An Inconvenient Truth about global warming; lots coming out on conflict diamonds (Bling by Kanye West being the one I'm most excited about); Black Gold (about fair trade coffee), Uganda Rising (the night marches in Uganda)

- If you're going to buy a gift basket, might as well make it fair trade coffee, chocolate, tea, local cheeses, etc.

- Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but make sure they're conflict-free. It's great to support independent jewelers and stores in general too, or places like Ten Thousand Villages that sell fair trade, handmade global gifts.

- Use recycled wrapping paper - that could mean buy paper that's been recycled, or reuse last year's. Gift bags are great, because you can reuse them again and again with only a little tissue paper. Brown grocery sacks make great wrapping paper with a few stickers or rubber stamping, or have nieces and nephews (or yourself!) color on it.

- Buy clothing that's sweatshop-free, organic materials, or shop for gently used clothing

- After Christmas, remember to donate an article of clothing, kitchen utensil, etc, for every new one you get.

- Donate to a charity/aid agency in a loved one's name - perfect for the person who already has everything

- If your office has a secret santa or similar gift exchange, forego the tacky snowman mugs and adopt a family together instead - maybe even a coworker who's going through a tough time.

- Most people don't need or have room for more items in their lives. Pay for someone to take a class instead. (kind of a stretch, but anti-materialism, right?)

In addition to Alternatives for Simple Living, I really like the site www.buynothingchristmas.org, which has great gift ideas, testimonials (one woman said her family hasn't "celebrated" Christmas since 1968!), and even bible studies/youth group activities to help congregations ease into non-gift giving.

Posted by: Meghan on November 28, 2006 08:37 AM

What great ideas to help us focus on the true meaning of Christmas! By the way do you own any of these movies? If not which ones would you like to have? :-)

Posted by: Sam on November 28, 2006 11:41 PM

If you like Power of ONE movie, then you've got to read the book! I think the book would be an even better gift!!

I've adopted a family (Angel Tree idea) and purchased gifts for the family in place of buying my family gifts. They loved the idea.

Posted by: Erin on November 29, 2006 04:35 PM