{"id":6959,"date":"2016-12-06T07:37:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T12:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6959"},"modified":"2016-12-06T07:37:30","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T12:37:30","slug":"not-something-lesser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6959","title":{"rendered":"(not) something lesser"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eikbsc3sdti-sonja-langford\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ok, I\u2019ll admit it. I\u2019m guilty. Totally guilty.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I make this entire holiday season into something it was never intended to be. Sometimes I make it about materialism. Sometimes I make it about gifts. Sometimes I make it about something lesser.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I pout. Sometimes I get something so stuck in my craw that I can\u2019t emotionally shake myself out of it. I can\u2019t always surrender to the Divine in order to help me navigate wisely through it. So yes, sometimes I focus on something lesser<\/em> \u2014 not realizing that it actually is<\/em><\/strong> lesser.<\/em><\/p>\n

A local church community created the below in video form last week. I thought it was brilliant \u2014 and relevant to each of us in different ways. It\u2019s a message for Advent, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for future celebration. But sometimes we\u2019re so busy that we miss the depth of the celebration. We miss what\u2019s most important\u2026<\/p>\n

Everyone wants Christmas<\/em>
\nTo be meaningful<\/em>
\nBut, instead it becomes<\/em>
\nShop, shop, shop,<\/em>
\nCredit cards<\/em>
\nTraffic jams<\/em>
\nTo do lists<\/em>
\nUseless gifts<\/em>
\nThen off to church<\/em>
\nNoel, Noel, Noel<\/em>
\nSometimes we\u2019re just glad to survive it.<\/em>
\nDid you know Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year?<\/em>
\nEVERY YEAR.<\/em>
\nSo we ask?<\/em>
\nHow did Jesus celebrate?<\/em>
\nJesus gave<\/em>
\nHe gave himself<\/em>
\nRelationally.<\/em>
\nIncarnation.<\/em>
\nTime, space, presence\u2026 (do you see where this is going?)<\/em>
\nWHAT IF<\/em>
\nyou bought FEWER GIFTS<\/em>
\n[that sweater she won\u2019t like]<\/em>
\n[that random gift certificate]<\/em>
\n[that toy he doesn\u2019t need]<\/em>
\nAnd then instead of BUYING that gift<\/em>
\nGive something valuable<\/em>
\nLIKE<\/em>
\nYOUR<\/em>
\nTIME<\/em>
\nTalk, eat, sled, bake, bike, read, play, create, craft<\/em>
\nTOGETHER<\/em>
\nMake gifts (like when you were a kid)<\/em>
\nAnd remember that money you didn\u2019t spend<\/em>
\nWhat if you gave some of it away?<\/em>
\nTo the poor, the hurting, the lonely, the hungry, the sick, the thirsty<\/em>
\nSince 2006 thousands of churches have been giving all over the world<\/em>
\nThat\u2019s a lot of love\u2026 life<\/em>
\nAll because people <\/em>
\nSpent LESS on gifts<\/em>
\nAnd MORE ON relationships<\/em>
\nLET\u2019S FACE IT<\/em>
\nConsumerism does not equal happiness, memories, meaning<\/em>
\nSpend less on gifts<\/em>
\nGive more on presence\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

If we gave more on presence, I wonder what would happen\u2026 would our relationships be better? \u2026 would we be more empathetic? \u2026 would we be less accepting of division and writing people off? \u2026 would we learn to see more sides than our own?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m thinking I need to do this far more than this time of year.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ok, I\u2019ll admit it. I\u2019m guilty. Totally guilty. Sometimes I make this entire holiday season into something it was never intended to be. Sometimes I make it about materialism. Sometimes I make it about gifts. Sometimes I make it about something lesser. Sometimes I pout. Sometimes I get something so stuck in my craw that … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “(not) something lesser”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-issue","category-daily-life","category-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6959"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6963,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6959\/revisions\/6963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}