Spirituality Essay:

Ethical Holiday Consumption ( December 2005 )

Many of us are bothered by the ugly splash of materialism and consumption we Americans seem addicted to . . . that goes haywire in December. We're only 6% of the world's population, but consume 30% of the earth's resources. Aren't the holidays supposed to promote spiritual connections, family, serenity? Do we really need all those toys, diversions, opulence?

For many of us, the traditional holiday customs of gift- giving puts us in a quandary. We want to share our love and caring with gifts for our loved ones, yet are horribly turned off by the commercialization, the "it's-Christmas-so-you-have- to-give-something" expectations, the retail frenzy and insanity, and the inevitable most of us can ill afford. Whatever spiritual meaning the holidays might hold gets compromised by our culture's push for materialistic gluttony.

Here are some ideas that might help soften that annual dilemma:

Postpone Christmas. Give a card that states that out of a desire to disengage from Christmas commercialism and ritual expectancies, you'll give them your holiday present on {some arbitrary date} . . . when it'll have much more meaning and value for both of you.
Give a gift of your time. Make a coupon that promises a gift of your time . . . in the form of animal or childcare, helping them with a house project or garden work in the Spring, making them dinner, food shopping, teaching them some skill, or something else that they could really use help with. Your time with the gift recipient shows personal caring . . . and a plus: it'll likely deepen your friendship with each other when you're working with them later.
Give an intangible gift. Rather than their 10th sweater or some electric gismo that winds up on a shelf, be creative: give dancing/art/craft lessons; give a certificate for a massage, hair stylist, etc.; give tickets to the theater, cinema, or the Botanical Gardens; or invite several friends together to a movie, play, dinner, or other treat that you all go together.
Make something. Can you draw, sew, paint, knit, do woodwork or other craftwork? No matter how less-than-perfect it is, a hand-made gift or other personal item that you give will show a lot more caring, and probably be more highly valued than most store-bought items.
Give a contribution in their name to a needy organization. What groups or organizations do you both support? . . . help all three out with a check to the organization. As a plus, many organizations will then send their magazines or newsletters, which will be a nice reminder of your gift all year long. Possible candidates (you can usually find membership costs / details on the internet) are NARAL; People for the American Way; Tikkun Institute; truthout.org; UUA (and our Fellowship, of course); Habitat for Humanity; or our local Food Bank, Children's Fund, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or the Botanical Gardens.

This is one in a series of essays on spirituality by Rick Childs, lay leader of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Mendocino Coast. You may want to:
Read more Spirituality Essays
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