Day 3 - 347 -- The Spirit of the Season

While shoveling over the past two days and when walking into work and back today, I was listening to Christmas tunes. The playlist is long and eclectic, which should be no surprise to anyone who reads here. It struck me while listening that many lyrics were variations on a single theme -- that thing that is called Christmas spirit. It involves helping our fellow travelers on this earth. While this often takes the form of charity -- such as giving to the food bank -- it seems not to look further than the warm fuzzy feeling of giving something to people we don't know, without fully understanding what they do need. While food banks have become a fully entrenched institution in the fabric of our towns and cities, they aren't able to do what we often think they do. People can use them once every few weeks and only receive enough food for 3-5 days. Foodbanks were meant to supplement foods that others could not buy, not to be the sole source of food going into a household. In an ideal world, foodbanks would all close their doors, since there would be greater equity within our communities and all would have an income that allows purchase of food, shelter, clothing, medicines and other essentials of life.

So -- if Christmas and a couple of other holidays encourage the spirit of giving, where should we donate our time, skills or money? Obviously, at present foodbanks do play a key role that no publicly funded program covers. Donations of foods that are not the ones that limited budgets allow people to buy would be a good idea. Often the same inexpensive foods that families can purchase are also donated -- pasta, canned tomatoes, beans, tuna and such. Why not donate something like spices, fresh or frozen vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs (provided the local foodbank has appropriate storage) or toiletries (shampoo, toilet paper, dish detergent and such)? Perhaps, it just takes looking at donated items through a different lens. There are other agencies that work towards improving equity and not just providing handouts, these deserve our attention, too.

As I walked along, more than one song asked the question I'd thought of -- What does Christmas spirit mean? One lyric answered this in an articulate manner -- "It is not the things you do at Christmas time, but the Christmas things you do all year through." Now that is something to aspire towards. I've narrowed this to three songs today and feel there is a need for all three to be able to fully support my seasonal reflection. The first song was recorded to advocate for donations to the Ethiopian famine from 1984. While some of the phrasing in the lyrics is not as PC as we'd expect now, it made the point that there were others that needed emergency care and some longer term support. Lots of young fresh faces in this one <smile>. Thirty year later, the second song was based on the first, only this time addressed the ebola outbreaks in west Africa. It did clear up some of the phrasing and made the point that many of us can become involved in caring for the global community. The third (and final selection <smile>) for today deals with the deeper meaning of the spirit of the season. The version I wanted was by the Nylons, but seems not to be available online. Instead, I chose one with a singer we've heard from this week, but with two other very young versions of people we've seen decades later -- one who we usually see as an actor not a singer. Enjoy!

Do they know its Christmas? -- Band Aid (1984)

Do they know its Christmas -- Band Aid 30 (2014)


The Secret of Christmas -- Bing Crosby ft. Debbie Reynolds & Robert Wagner