12 Days of Christmas Invitational #3: A Whole Lot of Giving Tuesday

The song.  The song.

Maybe it was a rebellious conspiracy, maybe a lover with no sense of scale.  Still we have the song the 12 Days of Christmas, which perhaps could be retitled 12 Days of Giving.  Many of these days will fall within the 2016 calendar year, so if you are a tax-write-off-seeker, this might be the discipline for you.  If you don't already know, the 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6).  So this crazy gift giving song is about a whole season of giving, day by day.

So here are 4 calling birds ideas about how to make the journey from Christmas to Epiphany a holy giving season.  All of them require some research, and perhaps even making a phone call or two.

There is that notion that a small percent of the population get the work done.  If you are one of those people, those 10-20%, and if you are one of those do everything over-extended kinds of givers, then perhaps one of the greatest gifts would be to focus.  You cannot do everything.  Few of us can personally hold back the gates of hell.  Really focusing, being fully on time and present in a few places may be more valuable than spreading yourself thin, being frustrated with an organization, or being unreliable.  So yes, letting go of some commitments may be how you re-frame your giving during this season.

1. There are big charitable organizations (BCO) that get a good deal of attention, and many of them do significant good.  Yet I wonder how much more common good gets done through the smaller local charities.  The food pantries and tutoring programs and shelters and soup kitchens that meet human need face to face.  What if you did some research about your neighborhood and found out about 12 groups, including congregations of all religions and political groups, that are seeking the common good right where you live?  
2. Speaking of BCO...some of you may be of the habit to do some cleaning out in the post holiday season.  All that gluttony causes a response of emptying.  Which is a fine thing to do, especially if you struggle with even minor forms of 'hoarding'.  Do you really need 8 pairs of flats?  I like jackets and coats, and I don't need quite so many.  So I am going to use this challenge in my Epiphany with the equation of keep 2 give 1.  Now getting back to the big charitable organization BCO topic...where to give that 1 (or more)??  There is a BCO whose leader has been reported to have a several million dollar salary, but it turns out to only be around $700,000.  Which still doesn't seem to be the most servant leadership style number.  So, instead of the BCO's, what if you figured out where a local thrift shop is, and how to donate, or even how to give your time? Shops that are run by churches and synagogues local service agencies.  The ones that run simply and lovingly, like where I live Yeehaw Aloha which sends vulnerable teens to camp and is opening a youth center in our small town.  Or make contacts with shelters and other organizations that might not desire to sell items, but can use them for clients (such as Tabitha's Closet).  HOWEVER...if you do that, ask good questions.  Small operations need your contributions, however if you just drop off a bag, like you might at a BCO, it may take time away from meeting the needs they are committed to addressing.
3. The scriptural stories of these 12 days include the slaughter of the children by Herod in his furious search for that newborn king, and the escape of the Holy family into Egypt.  Refugees fleeing genocide.  It may be that every year since then there has been horrible terrible war and war crimes occurring during these same 12 days, yet we do know for sure that there is terror in Syria.  Does your community have recent refugees?  What groups helps serve and care for them, help make the shift into this culture?  If not your immediate town, then perhaps the next city.  Or perhaps, you could learn about The White Helmets.  

All of these ideas should also be wrapped in prayer.

Except that all things will be- yet again - made new.
Make new by your spirit; make new the church where we live;
make new the public reality of justice among us;
make new the practice of compassion in our neighborhood;
make new the surge of peace in our violent world;

From Walter Bruggemann, 

Prayers for a Privileged People (A Habitat of Newness and Goodness [p145])