Today on Listen Up; Christmas contradictions. We explore the fuss and fundamentals behind the festive frenzy.
The
Christmas shopping season is in full swing, and whether you celebrate
for religious reasons or just because it’s a good excuse to party, the
impact of the festive season on our calendars and on our culture is
huge.
With all the shopping, decorating and celebrating at this time of year, stress levels rise and bank accounts fall.
Today we’ll explore Christmas realities; here in Canada, and around the world. But first, here’s The Context.
$36.8
billion – that’s what Statistics Canada says Canadian shoppers spent in
December 2005. $1.2 billion – went on home electronics, computers and
cameras. $347.6 million – was spent on candy and snack foods. $150.9
million went to stationery, cards, gift wrap and party supplies. $13.9
million worth of electric trains were imported. $1.9 billion was spent
at beer, wine and liquor stores.
Meanwhile, a brand new Ipsos
Reid / World Vision poll finds that 77 percent of Canadians say they
don’t need – or even particularly want – anything this Christmas.
GUESTS
Maureen Atkinson
J.C. Williams Group - Global Retail Consultants www.jcwg.com
Maureen is the Senior Partner, Marketing Research and Retail Management
at J.C. Williams Group – Global Retail Consultants.
Ingrid Heinrichs Pauls
Communications and PR for Ten Thousand Villages Canada www.tenthousandvillages.ca
In 2001 Ingrid left her job as a Maternity Nurse to become Manager of
the Ten Thousand Villages store in Princeton, NJ. Two years later she
moved home to Ontario to open and manage the new Ten Thousand Villages
store in downtown Oakville, a position she held for almost 4
years.
With her passion for letting people know about the importance of fair
trade, Ingrid now does Public Relations and Education for Ten Thousand
Villages Canada.
As someone with a heart for fair trade, Ingrid is particularly suitable
for this kind of work. "Getting the word out about fair trade is not
only my job, it is my passion," she says. "My goal as a speaker is to
increase people's awareness of the exploitation involved in the
production of many of the products we purchase every day, and of the
difference it makes when we shop fair trade."
Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income to Third World people
by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North
America. Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans who would otherwise
be unemployed. This income helps pay for food, education, health care
and housing. Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit program of Mennonite
Central Committee, the relief and development agency of Mennonite and
Brethren in Christ churches in North America.
Kathleen Norris is an award-winning poet and bestselling nonfiction
author. Her books include Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, The Cloister
Walk, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, The Virgin of Bennington,
and the poetry collection Little Girls in Church.
“Remembering, waiting, and hoping are essential practices for
spiritual growth and for understanding Christmas,” says Kathleen,
“yet they are increasingly difficult to practice in a culture
dedicated to forgetting, hurrying, and being cynical. The Advent and
Christmas seasons are meant to help us regain our balance.”
Greg Pennoyer is a consultant on strategic planning, fundraising, and
project development. He is the co-founder of the Centre for Cultural
Renewal (Ottawa, Canada) and has recently become the project director
for Incarnation: A Recovery of Meaning (an international art
exhibition).
“All of a sudden suffering and pain as well as joy and pleasure
take on a common meaning because Christ himself – God himself as
Christ – experienced it, lived through and demonstrated to us how
to do it, how to live this life on this earth….
Christmas is not about a sentimental season. Christmas is about the
living God engaging us and all its messiness and contradictions and
ambiguities. He comes and is present with us. And He embraces us
in the midst of it. He doesn’t pull us out of it and say ok now
you’re good enough for me to love. He loves and embraces us in
the midst of it. He created this life – we bear his image - our
life is a reflection of that image…”
Gregory Wolfe is Writer in Residence at Seattle Pacific University and
the founder and editor of Image, one of America’s leading
literary quarterlies. He also directs the Master of Fine Arts in
Creative Writing at SPU. In 2005 he served as a judge for the National
Book Awards. Among his books are Intruding Upon the Timeless:
Meditations on Art, Faith, and Mystery and Malcolm Muggeridge: A
Biography.
“We’re stuck. We’re stuck in between cynicism and
sentimentality – it seems to be one or the other. I mean either
we’re so jaded and so angry and so disaffected, that we have a
cynical attitude, whether we’re people of faith or not, or we try
and sentimentalize it by putting a lot of emotion into it that’s
not sincere. We need to find a way to get back to the real wonder that
was once at the heart of the season…”
HOW TO HELP THE BANGLADESH CYCLONE VICTIMS!
(Listen Up TV does not endorse any of the content in the following list
of web links. They are offered purely as a resource for further
information.)
Ten Thousand Villages helps artisans battered by Cyclone Sidr
WINNIPEG, Man. -- Ten Thousand Villages Canada is contributing $6,000 to help survivors of the recent cyclone in Bangladesh.
The funds will help artisans in the Agailjhara region of the country
recover from the affects of Cyclone Sidr which tore into
Bangladesh’s southwestern coast on November 15, 2007.
Trees in the Agailjhara region were uprooted, crops ruined and many of
the houses -- made of straw and bamboo with tin roof -- were flattened.
“We have a deep, ongoing relationship with the artisans in the
area, going back more than 20 years,” says Bev Hiebert, a
spokesperson for Ten Thousand Villages. “When we heard how badly
they were affected we simply wanted to respond in some way.”
Ten Thousand Villages -- a fair trade organization-- purchases a
variety of handmade paper and handmade paper items from artisan groups
in the Agailjhara region, as well as terra cotta, jute and bamboo
products.
The contribution will be given to Mennonite Central Committee which is
organizing a $500,000 response to help cyclone survivors in southern
Bangladesh, including rebuilding up to 1,500 houses. Ten Thousand
Villages is a program of MCC.
MCC, through the Canadian Food Grains Bank, will also help provide food
for 10,000 families for one month. More families are likely to receive
food as MCC Bangladesh establishes additional distribution channels.
Financial contributions may be made to any MCC office or online at
www.mcc.org/donate. They should be designated for MCC’s
“Bangladesh Cyclone Disaster Response.”
For more information please call your nearest MCC office at 1-888-622-6337.
This
spectacular crystal tree reminds me we have some pretty big
expectations at Christmas. Just what is realistic to expect out of
Christmas? Here’s my opinion; expect God to be with you. That is the
Christian view of Christmas.
LET’S TALK – WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?
This is what you - our viewers – had to say about “Why should we care about strangers?”
Canadians
are callous, discriminating people. Had anybody cared, the guy would
not have been assassinated by Canadian police. Had the guy spoken
English, he would have been asked questions, probably beaten up but not
given this lethal treatment. Canada is a very dangerous country and I
am impatient to leave for good. - Patrick
People these days
rarely try to look at what is going on outside their comfort zone with
an aim to understand and perhaps help, not criticize. It's too easy and
readily acceptable to ignore people as we go about our lives. - David
You
put a very timely spin on the Vancouver Airport tragedy. This tragedy
is a commentary on the self-centered culture of Western society. The
more we think "life is about me"; the more we all lose. Will you
present the police perspective and on the behalf of all of us, thank
and encourage our police force...not because they are perfect but
because we need them. - Dave and Elfrieda
In our modern
cultures today, because of different nationalities, we treat each other
differently and with limits. But if we have kindness in our heart, we
are willing to offer our help to those who are in need no matter what.
- Nelida
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On April 30, 2005 Lorna was privileged to receive an honorary Doctorate of Christian Ministries from Canada's largest Christian university, Trinity Western University. Lorna was recognized for the witness and leadership that Listen Up TV has provided in public messaging: "a leader in the voice of evangelical life in Canada."
