I recently came across this website(adventconspiracy.org), and was blown away at this video! It was the day after I was teaching our students a series on "'Tis the Season" where we looked at this well known phrase and what it means and could mean. 'Tis the season is often associated with "to be merry." Our spin was that the season should not dictate our attitude, but our attitude should dictate the season. We have the power and ability to tell our attitudes that it is always the season to be giving, to be merry, to have joy, to be kind to others, and to ultimately spend ourselves on behalf of the poor and satisfy the needs of the oppressed as outlined in Isaiah 58.
Well on this particular night, I stated that we should consider that Christmas is not about presents, but about presence. 'Tis the season for presence. When I saw this video, I wished I had seen it 24 hours earlier. It illustrated everything that I wanted to show to our teens, and even to our volunteers. We have made it a priority to be people who give often. We decided to adopt a family in our church as a youth ministry, and this year, we are going to be able to give them almost $300 in cash and gift cards thanks to the generosity of our teenagers and volunteers. People are taking the gift cards they received as presents, and giving them away to this family in need, so that they can have a nice Christmas. Praise God for the generosity of people, and for the conspiracy of advent. The coming of Christ represents the ultimate present, and the ultimate presence. May I strive to be like Christ and offer my presence most often, and give more freely.
