This year I have managed to buy less presents for people – though I must admit it has been fuelled more by the emptiness in my purse than it has to do with the call by the Advent Conspiracy lot. It’s not a bad idea though I love buying presents. Gift buying is often my personal way of showing love to people, especially those I know well, and am close to. Advent Conspiracy says the following:

Before you think we’re getting all Scrooge on you, let us explain what we mean. We like gifts. Our kids really like gifts. But consider this: America spends an average of $450 billion a year every Christmas.
How often have you spent money on Christmas presents for no other reason than obligation? How many times have you received a gift out of that same obligation?
Thanks, but no thanks, right? We’re asking people to consider buying ONE LESS GIFT this Christmas. Just one.  Sounds insignificant, yet many who have taken this small sacrifice have experienced something nothing less than a miracle: They have been more available to celebrate Christ during the advent season.

Gifts, and giving as we do at Christmas is not a bad thing. The wise men who visited Mary & Joseph after the birth of Jesus bought gifts!! Gifts can be a sign or symbol of something much deeper. Yet today, we find the real meaning of Christmas is lost in the commercialization of this season, and because western society is so entrenched in valuing money & materialism it would serve us well to take a step back from what Christmas has become for so many of us, and consider our motivation – what is driving us to spend, and is it necessary for us to devote so much of our time to things which, ultimately, will not endure?!?

Related posts:

1. Advent Conspiracy – Christmas is coming!
2. Advent Conspiracy – Give More…Take Time!!
3. Advent Conspiracy – Worship Fully
4. Advent Conspiracy – Love All
5. Advent Conspiracy – Changing the World