Slow generosity: Not ready for Christmas
“Are you ready for Christmas?” people ask. They mean meal planning, gift wrapping etc. It’s seldom a spiritual question.
The “are you ready” question usually translates as “do you have all your gifts and groceries bought?” Spoiler alert: no.
Is grabbing a box of chocolates at the drug store generous?
Maybe those frantic folks grabbing gift boxes of chocolate at Shopper’s Drug Mart have been praying about how to be generous, and God directed them to the candy aisle. Their hearts now at peace, they return to their homes and places of worship to celebrate Christ’s birth.
Giving at Christmas has become performative (there’s a fancy word for you!) Each purchase marks one step closer to being ready for Christmas, one less thing to buy. If we’re not paying attention, our charitable giving can be like grabbing a box of chocolates at the drug store: generous at some level, but perhaps not as meaningful as it could be.
Immediate generosity
There’s a place for immediate generosity: “Give us this day our daily bread.” The innkeeper offering up space for Mary and Joseph was responding to an urgent need and honouring a shared value of hospitality. The best fundraising letters appeal to shared values, but others are tied up in artificial urgency that makes it hard for donors to distinguish what’s real and what isn’t.
Some of us are buying boxes of chocolates to address an immediate need. Some of us haven’t left enough time to pray about our generosity. There are so many choices! December 31st will be a big day for charitable giving. For both donations and chocolates, guilt and duty combine with a healthy dose of time scarcity.
Don’t get me wrong: a box of chocolates is a lovely gift, and a financial donation on December 31st helps charities. Is there a way to be kind to our future selves, to slow down our generosity?
Slow generosity: Kindness to your future self
When you make a gift to your favourite charity this year, I urge you to sign up to become a monthly donor. Choose an amount you can afford, even if it seems like too small an amount to bother with. I assure you that the charity will be delighted to have your slow and steady support. If automatic monthly giving isn’t an option, go to the Canada Helps website - you can give to any charity in Canada through their website. It can be a monthly gift or a one-time gift.
Is there someone who would delighted to hear that you have become a regular donor to a charity? Maybe the same person for whom you bought the chocolates would be interested in knowing that you support a cause you both care about. Sharing stories of generosity is an act of kindness.
Not ready for Christmas
No, I am not ready for Christmas. I have a detailed grocery list and my sister-in-law is cooking the turkey; but I don’t imagine I ever will be completely ready.
To me, the good news of Christmas is that I don’t need to be ready, salvation comes with no pre-conditions. There are no hoops to jump through, no checklists of any sort.
Do I have the whole generosity question sorted? Nope. I am grateful though that the folks at Abundance have helped my husband and I plan our generosity. It makes it easier to give and we are not scrambling at the end of the year like shoppers grabbing boxes of chocolate. I’m grateful for slow generosity.