Thinking outside the Christmas gift box

During the Spanish Civil War in 1936, a Midwestern farmer named Dan West was ladling out rations of milk to hungry children and had a thought "These children don't need a cup, they need a cow." His idea grew over the years and now is known as Heifer International, but don't have a cow, man, because cattle are not the only things Heifer International offers in the way of helping impoverished people become self-reliant.

Heifer International publishes a Christmas catalogue (and has an online site, too):

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.183217/

Their work goes on year-round, but at Christmas when people are thinking of what gift to give someone, what better way than to help others? For as little as $10 you can contribute to the purchase of an animal which will provide nourishment not just for one meal, but for many. Cows, pigs, geese, ducks, goats and sheep are all used not just for one meal, or for one item of clothing from wool, but to sustain a village economically. Additionally, trees and honey bees can be purchased for less than thirty dollars to help areas of the world in need. You can make a donation in memory or honor of a loved one and help those less fortunate and receive or have sent a card noting your donation. You might just make your own life better and understand the gift season of Christmas a little more.

Christmas Trees in November?

I know it is a sign of consumerism more than getting into the Christmas season when living Christmas trees (OK, they're actually dead for the most part) are being purchased this far in advance of Christmas Day. It's annoying enough with radio stations dedicating their twenty-four hour format to Christmas music, or seeing Christmas decorations put up in the city before Thanksgiving.

In my childhood household, it was pretty much a "no-no" to put up a Christmas tree before Christmas Eve, due to this religious season called "Advent." My parents believed the old adage "Keep Christ in Christmas and Christmas out of Advent." I'm sure R. Catholics have heard of Advent, and I know it isn't a religious season observed by every Christian denomination. But whatever one's religious affiliation (I've some Jewish friends who refer to it as a "Chanukah bush" when buying a small Christmas tree.) The Christmas tree, after all, has its roots (I know there's a pun) in pagan observances co-opted by early Christians. Buying a severed tree to me this early just means a lot of dead needles and a fire hazard before Christmas Day. But that's just my opinion, humbly expressed.

Of course, anyone who has waited like my family did to purchase a non-artificial tree on Christmas Eve often was confronted with the little spindly leftovers like the little tree made famous in the animated holiday program A Charlie Brown Christmas. But as Charlie Brown's friend Linus noted, spindly little trees need love too. It wasn't always the case that the trees of my youth purchased on Christmas Eve were that sad-looking.

I also remember the year my mother introduced a "new" family custom when I was a teenager which she had learned as a child and young adult growing up through the Great Depression of the 1930s. It's taking a branch, spray painting (though I don't know if spray paint was available then for household use.) the branch a shade of white or whatever festive color related to Christmas you liked, and then sticking gumdrops (or spice drops) on the the tips of the branch. I thought that was kind of interesting, and I've noticed you can now buy a special silver plated tree to stick the gum drops on, but that doesn't sound as interesting or creative. Though the gumdrops may be safer to eat (if you like to eat gumdrops, which I don't since childhood.) With current economic hard times, I thought I'd just share this with those who don't know about it as an option.

I still wait until Christmas Eve to put up my tree, and some years, it's been a live tree that can be planted, which shares space sometimes with a menorah related to Chanukah. (That's Hanukkah to others) because the seasons sometimes overlap. Chanukah is often thought of as the "Jewish Christmas" but it isn't. It's a very minor but important event in Judaism. Remember, without Judaism, there would be no Christmas. And if you are wondering, I am not a member of the Messianic Jewish group, just one who has studied and participated in several different religions both major and minor. If you haven't heard of Messianic Jews, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Jews

Happy Holidays.