Give a Goat
27 November 2006
If I hear one more comment from the media along lines of “the holiday shopping season is off and running,” I think I’ll vomit.
My gut on the verge has nothing to do with the after effects of pigging out last Thursday. However, in the last 4 days I have been overfed subliminal messages suggesting that seasonal deals abound out there.
Woo-hoo, el cheapo Chrissie gifts galore! Bargain shop-a-thon-ing is exactly how I want to spend my spare time over the next few weeks. Not.
Before you get all twitterpattered about my waxing curmudgeonly about Chrissie shopping, Bloggers, let me ask you this: Where is the meaning in a season of spree spending in a culture of plenty?
Now that’s a pointed question, so I think I should be willing to answer it myself.
I realize I don’t need any more stuff to feel happy, secure, content and loved. I have plenty, perhaps too many possessions, and it’s not things, i.e. Chrissie prezzies, that make me feel good anyway.
Every now and then I do love to give and receive a gift, though I don’t like to feel bound to give. I prefer to feel free to give when I want to give and to those who least expect it. The freedom of spontaneous giving is I find, filled with joy both for the recipient and me.
I’m sure it will come as no surprise then that giving associated with an obligatory shopping experience is, as far as I’m concerned, the right-raving pits!
So if like me, you find holiday shopping a joyless chore, go online and give the gift of a goat instead.
There’s nothing like goat gifting a Somalian, an Ethiopian, a villager from one of the world’s poorest communities, to put the meaning and enjoyment back into Chrissie.
Organizations like World Vision have an extensive list of unusual utilitarian gifts for villagers in underdeveloped countries. Think practical items such as a bucket, clean water, and roof tiles.
If you prefer the idea of gifting livestock but a goat isn’t your preference, then how ‘bout a sheep, a pig, several chickens, or an ox and an ox plough to go with!
You can send your choice of gift on behalf of a loved one, friend or family and be comforted by the fact that it will arrive in the hands of someone really in need of being gifted.
Best of all your prezzie will go to an individual who least expects a gift at a time of the year when we’re all primed to give.
November 29th, 2006 at 6:53 pm