Consumerism, Crime, Covid and Christmas.
What do these all have in common, if anything?
They all make us anxious for different reasons
Consumerism – makes us anxious
Consumerism makes us anxious as the merchants try to woo us to their stores telling us that they have something that we need and we must get. They tell us that we must change our furniture, our cars, our clothes, our appliances and even ourselves because we are not good enough without the services they offer. We therefore get very anxious when we cannot respond favourably to their invitations. It is regrettable that many of us believe that because a product or service is advertised it must be acquired. And we put ourselves under severe stress until we get it. Parents need to help their children in this regard, that not because a product or service is advertised it now becomes a right to acquire it, no not so. We also need to model for them and teach them the difference between a need and a want. Wanting something does not mean you must have it, as it is not necessarily a need. Thus, education can help to reduce anxiety. Listen to Jesus, “do not be anxious as your heavenly father knows what you need….” (Matt 6:31ff). For Jesus and the Apostle, the response is contentment.
Crime makes us anxious.
Criminal acts including murder of both innocent and guilty makes us all very anxious. Blatant daylight robbery, frequent cases of hold ups around ATM machines make consumers quite anxious. Violence against women and children is increasing across the world and continues to gain more attention from policy makers not only because of the mental health effect on the victims but the devastating effects on the economy when people lose hours of work when they are victims of crime. Everyone of us becomes concerned as we are not sure who will be next. It is a fact however that the lower one is on the social scale the more vulnerable one is to crime and the more difficult it will be to bounce back from acts of violence; the greater the trauma experienced the more difficult it is to get on with one’s life as relocation from a community, one’s job, etc., may not be so easy.
Is there hope for the crime situation in our country? Have the political leaders run out of ideas as to how to address crime and have subsequently given up? According to the police, there are two hundred and sixty-two (262) active criminal gangs in the country, is this a symptom of a deeper social or spiritual issue? How is this being addressed? This does makes us anxious! What are the approaches we can take to deal with this? Collaboration in the community and the exercise of courage in the face of evil.
Covid 19, makes us anxious.
Yet, for some people more than others, as there are those who believe they can look down the barrel of the gun of Covid and pull the trigger defiantly and live to tell the tales, while on the other hand, there are others who are not so fortunate and so are no longer around to tell the tale. The cry is, “when will this all be over?” Changing the way, we worship; the way we work, the way we entertain others and are entertained; the way we interact with family, do education and generally do business. Nothing is the same and nothing shall be the same again. And just when the world was thinking, it could now discard the masks, open the restaurants, restore the flights, increase the numbers that can worship face to face, here comes Omicron, more daring and deadly than Covid Delta.
This does makes us anxious. What’s our response? Continue to take care of yourself and your neighbour.
Christmas – makes us anxious
Christmas is the season of new beginnings and hope and peace and love, yet it still makes us anxious. The anxiety related to this season, is intensified by consumerism, crime and covid-19. The pressure created by commercials and the media tend to lead many to believe that Christmas equals spending. The pressure is intensified by the demand to validate oneself in a relationship by the gift(s) given and received.
This is the first Christmas that many family members all across the world will be celebrating without the presence of a loved ones lost to Covid-19 or to criminal violence. No one can understand the levels of anxiety generated by these experiences. So what gifts will you give this Christmas?
What gifts will you give this Christmas?
There is the need to give more than the traditional gifts. Offer the gift of relationship. Call family and friends, and some not usually on your list. Visit where you can, spend a little more time of course managing Covid protocols as much as you are able. Listen more, talk less and practise the words of Jesus who came on the first Christmas to offer peace, and who told us as he walked the earth, “Therefore …………, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (Matt 5:25). Celebrate life, says Jesus, it is far more important than the things we fight for. I did not say, go party, I said celebrate life, ask God to show you how. Whereas a party can be a means of celebration, it can also be a way of escaping the realities of life.
So, while consumerism, crime and covid-19 could make you anxious, we can respond to them with contentment, community collaboration and courage, care for self and neighbour, and ultimately by embracing the Christ of Christmas during this advent season.
The peace of the Lord to you all.
Pastor
December 2021