In the busyness of the Christmas season, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite posts and scaling back my original content. I’m focusing on Christmas this week and will post a best-of 2012 next week after Christmas. This particular post was first published in December 2009 (and I’m very grateful the videos are still up, otherwise this post would make no sense!).
You’ve no doubt seen them since Thanksgiving, ringing their bells. With the Christmas spirit of giving, you may have also been accosted by a number of other “causes”. Maybe accosted isn’t the right word, but I’m much more willing to give to someone in front of Target than I am someone who approaches my car in the parking lot.
Personally, this relates to whether the cause is a hand-up or a hand-out. And the Salvation Army offers more than just help to the needy. In fact, the Salvation Army has stepped up their marketing campaign to emphasize that they’re more than just kettles at Christmas. I was surprised this year to hear the very Evangelical-like “when I was saved” in one of their spots.
What Christmas is really about: