Project promotes compassion over conspicuous consumption

Research shows that those who give live longer.

By JEAN PRESCOTT

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

BILOXI, Miss — In just a few days, Christmas will be celebrated. We will eat and drink too much, spend too much and even give in ways that could deplete us.

Harsh words, perhaps, for people who have given so generously over the past 27 months to help family, friends and neighbors recover from the disaster that was Katrina. This is a good thing to take care of ourselves, and the hope is that we also continue to care for others.

Feel you’re in need of help? We do, and something called the Advent Conspiracy suggests a different, if not altogether new, way to look at and approach giving.

Rick McKinley, pastor of Imago Dei (Image of God) Community in Portland, Ore., realized last Christmas the wretched excess of the holiday as celebrated by one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It exhausts us, it plunges us into debt, and much of what we eat, drink, get and do will be forgotten before spring.

The “movement” aims to worship Jesus and celebrate Christmas through compassion, not consumption.

McKinley and his congregation have chosen what may be an unfortunate word — conspiracy — to describe what it advocates. Their aim, they say, is to conspire against consumerism and end the practice of giving more to one another than to the person whose birthday it is.

Jeanne McKinley, the Imago Dei pastor’s wife who directs the Advent Conspiracy, told The (Portland) Oregonian that the project, barely a year old, now involves nearly 500 churches in 10 countries, and about 1,700 people have joined online.

We called several people who make it their business to be active in the community, some of them clergymen but mostly ordinary folk, and none had even heard of Advent Conspiracy.

The Rev. Argile Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church Biloxi, agreed to take a look at an e-mail about the movement after some discussion that it might be first cousin to the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation or even the “simple church” movement.

Smith spent some time with the concept and then e-mailed to say: “I am favorable to the effort made by this group to simplify Christmas. Simplifying the holiday would restore a bit of elegance to some of the basic traditions, like sharing gifts of thoughtfulness and helping someone in the name of the Christ whose birthday we celebrate.”

The suggestion is we assess our personal approach to Christmas, and then commit to changing something about that plan. Imago Dei suggests taking 25 percent of what we would spend on family Christmases and give it to a project they favor, Living Water International, which provides clean water, medical attention and Christianity to people around the world.

With others to consider in your family circle, you may not be able to change everything or even a few things all at once, but a good place to start is with making gifts instead of shopping till we drop.

No one means to suggest children, even adults, refrain from buying gifts to give to loved ones, but the suggestion is to replace excessive spending with care.

Relational giving is part and parcel of the Advent Conspiracy. Relational gifts engage the beneficiary; they are those gifts of thoughtfulness Pastor Smith mentioned. Such gifts are best if homemade and are better still if they involve time spent with the recipient.

One suggestion — and there are many at the Advent Conspiracy Web site — is to write down a family story, a bit of family history, and then copy it for family members. You might take the time to think about a friend’s favorite music and then create a CD of favorite songs.

Consider the old “coupons” idea: promises to prepare a meal, mow a lawn, give a dance lesson. Print your promises — “Redeem for 1 evening of free baby-sitting” — on index cards, place them in a colorful envelope and know that you’ve made a Christmas gesture that will keep on giving for however many promises you make.

Another challenge is to find ways to translate this kind of giving into the community at large. Again, suggestions await at the Advent Conspiracy Web site, www.adventconspiracy.org. Bring them up at church or work. Share them with like-minded people. Keep in mind, though, the aim is to adopt the spirit of the movement, not necessarily the specific projects in which Portland advocates are involved.

This is not about limiting ways to give but expanding them. Research shows that those who give live longer than those who don’t, and the more you give, the more likely you are to do it again and again.