SOLI/Update - Nov. 28, 2005

Shhhh! Don't tell my Mom, but I've found the perfect Christmas gift for her.

Mom is 80 and notoriously hard to buy for. For years she has possessed everything she wants and could possibly need. Moreover, just this year she and Dad downsized from the big family house to an apartment. To do so, they got rid of lots of stuff, crammed what they could into the apartment, then put the rest in storage.

When I ask her what she wants for Christmas, Mom rolls her eyes. "I don't really want anything," she always says. I've heard it for years and I know she means it. Count her one of the lucky ones: happy just to have good health, a loving family, stable finances and a nice apartment. Would that we all discovered satisfaction with the things we actually have.

But now I found something Mom will really like. It's a donation in her name to the Salvation Army. The gift has special meaning because her own mother, God rest her soul, faithfully gave a Christmas donation to the Salvation Army every year. My grandmother took enormous pride in this annual act of giving. She herself lived on Social Security in modest circumstances, but she gave. It was important for her to remember the less fortunate.

Salvation Army is just one of thousands of extremely worthy Christian charities who have miniscule overhead and who wring every single penny of value from the dollars they receive. Their work serves the poorest of the poor in our society, helping them to heat their homes, clothe their children, feed their families, train for jobs and free themselves from the bondage of booze or drugs.

But the Salvation Army is not alone. Just about every church group has special funds and programs where you can steer your dollars to help with the cause of your choice. The ELCA, for example, offers a wide menu of choices in its ELCA Good Gifts catalog, from rural ministry to medical clinics to disaster response to evangelism.

You can also donate to programs not affiliated with any one church, such as Heifer International or Habitat for Humanity. Or maybe there is a homeless shelter or food pantry in your own community that would make good use of a few bucks.

Such Christmas gifts also restore an element long lost in our prosperous society: That Christmas gifts meet actual needs. Fact is, we expend way too much energy and time trying to find "perfect" gifts for people who, like my Mom, really don't need or want anything.

So now this year Mom's gift will go to someone who really needs help. A donation in her name to the Salvation Army. Just don't tell her. It's a surprise. Shhhh!

-Rob Blezard, editor and webmaster

New This Week:

Biblically based principles turn dollars into sense
An irony: that we work hard to get dollars and then have to be saved from them! Lest our dollars - and the possessions they buy -should possess us, why not turn dollars into sense? A sense, that is, of personal, congregational, and churchwide mission." Good stewardship tips from a pastor. Click here for "Biblically based principles," a new addition to the Lutheran Laity Movement Archives.

Holiday presents (and presence) that honor Christ

"As Christians we are not called to separate ourselves from this world even when it gets hard to be Christian in the midst of secular materialistic values. We are called to be in this world and yet not of this world. I believe that we are called to continue to celebrate Christmas in a way that honors the birth of new hope for this world." Click here for The Rev. Dana Reardon's weekly stewardship column.

Alternative Gifts Catalog
It's an annual ritual: Tearing your hair out looking for a gift for someone who already has everything. This year, why not donate to a worthy cause in

the name of someone on your gift list? The Lutheran church has a catalog of choices -- from disaster relief to seminarian scholarships to funding new churches. Click here for the ELCA Good Gifts catalog, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

7 Characteristics of effective evangelistic churches

What does it take to bring more people to your church? Of course, some of it is a matter of opinion, but the folks at Church Executive magazine put together a set of criteria and did some research. Their findings are enlightening to those of us who desire to be good stewards of the mysteries of God, particularly those of us who belong to Mainline, historical churches whose membership has been ebbing. Click here for "7 Characteristics," from Church Executive magazine.

Pass the peace of Christ this Advent
"Christ willingly offers Himself to us to offer us a peace that is beyond comprehension, but nonetheless real. It is a peace that increases with sharing rather than dissipating. It is a little like the loaves and fishes. Broken and blessed, the peace of Christ abounds when it is shared." Click here for "Pass the peace of Christ," an inspiring essay from the archives of Dana Reardon's weekly reflection. This week's Treasure Chest offering.