Starting at Uni this Sept, or know someone who is…?!
Read my article here, from Scripture Union’s magazine: The Life
[Please note, as the kind person has commented below, the correct UCCF web address is: http://www.uccf.org.uk]
See HERE for an article I recently had published in the Christian Writer, re the intricate relationship between book marketing and cake…!
If you’re a Christian writer in the UK, consider joining the Association of Christian Writers.
An article I’ve just written for the Generous website
Spend less and be more Generous
In 1647, the English Parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal. Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas festivities, considering feasting and revelry on a ‘holy day’ immoral. Anybody caught celebrating Christmas was arrested. The ban was only lifted when the Puritans lost power in 1660.
The reason for mentioning this rather random historical fact is that I tend to feel rather like Cromwell’s long lost distant descendant at this time of year. Not because I aim to be, please understand. More because the ideas I choose to promote sometimes paint me as a bit of a Scrooge.
In actual fact, I’m totally in favour of ‘feasting and revelry’ and am a huge fan of the season in general. In addition to the standard merriment, food and partying, it’s a fantastic opportunity to show hospitality towards those neighbours or work colleagues that we tend to ignore. Also for using the occasion to strengthen family ties.
But when it comes to presents under the tree, ‘giving generously’ doesn’t mean we ought to re-mortgage our homes. If anything, it might be more generous to give a less expensive gift, but give it a bit more thought.
For example, a voucher that says, ‘I’ll babysit for you once a month this coming year’. Or what about buying books, DVDs, CDs, games etc. second-hand off eBay or Amazon… or from a local charity shop? And any money that we then save – by getting less expensive presents – could be directed towards those who really need it. Those who won’t be enjoying all of the festivities that we will; who wouldn’t notice if their country made Christmas illegal again. (As Bob Geldof would have us sing: ‘Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?’)
So, what about spending half as much as we usually would on family members this year, and, with the money saved, buy a goat (or similar) for those in need… and tell the family on Christmas Day? Or did you know that for £60 you can twin your toilet with one built in Burundi, for those who aren’t used to such luxuries (toilettwinning.org)?
If you’re feeling very ambitious and have time on our hands, then to make a present is a generous yet cheap idea: knit a scarf, bake a cake, paint a picture, compose a song, write a poem. Go on, I will if you will! It’s not illegal, we won’t get arrested, and, if we do something generous with the money we save by not splashing out, we’ll be making a difference to those in need, which can’t be bad.
This has just been published here on Generous website.
They have also interviewed me here
Generous wrinkles?
Do adverts on the telly stop us being ‘generous’? When we suffer yet another commercial break that inconveniently interrupts what we were attempting to enjoy, does it matter? Do we kid ourselves when we say that we just ignore them; that they don’t have any influence over us… that they don’t alter our efforts to shop less, to buy local/fair trade/organic/eco-friendly, etc?
Take the recent hype over the cream that claims to get rid of your wrinkles, by No.7. When the ‘news’ broke recently, that scientists had done a study and found that for once, a beauty product’s claims were accurate, the result was predictable. In the Boots’ outlet at Liverpool Street, London, over 400 bottles were sold within 90 minutes of the store opening.
But those of us who are hard-core Generous Shoppers aren’t so gullible.
No, we’re not.
Are we?
Errrr… yes, just a bit.
When last in Boots (and I’m rarely in there) I passed a huge display of said product. I paused. I have wrinkles. As they say in the States: do the math! Now, please bear in mind I am not one to splash out on beauty products of any sort and don’t even wear make up. The essentials I do buy tend to be of the generous sort. But I paused, picked up a bottle of said product, held it for a few seconds, thought about my skin and the fantasy of turning back time… then realised it was twenty quid and swiftly returned it to its display.
Proof, then, that adverts have power, even over those of us who consider ourselves immune. What if it had cost two quid – would I have bought it? Please don’t ask me that as I’m trying to put the whole sorry episode behind me. But beware – we’re only human, and while we know that wasting money is not helpful to us, or to people and planet at large, sometimes we’re more susceptible to clever advertising than we realise.
And sometimes we just have to learn to re-name our wrinkles ‘laughter lines’, and move on.
This was published on the Generous website Nov 08:
Accident insurance and mayonnaise!
I am a member of a Unison. Generally, apart from waving a sad goodbye to some of my hard-earned cash each month, this doesn’t really mean that much to me. But just the other day I received something from them in the post: free life/accident insurance. Further investigation taught me that if I loose a thumb and index on the same hand, I’ll get £750 (it occurs to me that if I loose a thumb and index finger on different hands, I’ll not get a penny. Charming). If I loose two limbs, I’ll get a whopping £2500 (that might just cover my first week of therapy).
My job as a teaching assistant has tended to be fairly hazard-free to date. Nevertheless, I have duly applied for my freebie; perhaps the only freebie I hope never to cash in on. Watch this space/thumb/index finger/limbs…
Still, it did make me think more about the value we place on things. Or the value we ought place on them. How can a group of people I have never even met place a value on various parts of my body?
The current credit climate has forced me, yet again, to re-examine the value I place on shopping ‘generously’ and all it entails. Take mayonnaise. For the past few years I’ve ordered local/organic/fair trade food from a local food delivery service. It’s great, but with a £3 delivery charge, I’ve now decided to give it a miss. However, they are the only people who can supply us with local mayonnaise. Our local farm shop has mayonnaise… from Staffordshire. I don’t tend to count food produced 170 miles away from where I live as particularly local. Also, it’s very expensive, as was the local mayonnaise I was having delivered. My research has shown that my local Co-op (the best of the worst) do their own brand of mayonnaise, using free range eggs. And it’s cheap! (and that’s not just related to the eggs). So, I could add mayonnaise to the short list of things I do actually buy from Co-op most weeks. It would save money. Saving money is good. Firstly, because I don’t want to run out of it (money, not mayonnaise) and secondly because if I have any spare I can always give it to someone who needs it more. But up until now I’ve valued the fact that my mayonnaise was produced in the same county as my mine. So what’s more important?
Yes, I’m being pedantic; so shoot me. If you do my family will get a nice payout from Unison; they’ll be dancing at my funeral. I suspect the answer is for me to stop thinking so hard and simply to opt for the handy cheap Co-op version, until I can find somewhere else that sells it locally, at a reasonable price. Or, make my own. Recipes anyone…?!
PS For the record, I can’t recall the exact amounts of money the insurance offered me, but it was something along the lines of the above.
Just had this published on the generous website:
The ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ Dare.
Would you call yourself a bibliophile, a philobiblist… or perhaps just a common garden ‘bookworm’? Welcome to the club! And now you’re initiated, how about this for starters. Did you know…
Cinderella’s slippers were originally made out of fur. The story was changed in the 1600s by a translator.
Dr. Seuss wrote “Green Eggs and Ham” after his editor dared him to write a book using fewer than 50 different words.
Or maybe you’re too busy absorbing the latest Jodi Picoult, Martin Amis or Ben Elton to have time to acquire such knowledge. Either way, like me, you’re addicted, you know it, and you love it.
But my approach to purchasing these beloved books has altered in the past few years. It began to occur to me that there are people who are suffering in this world because of the vast amount of forests being stripped of trees that are vital to their way of life. That are vital to the way of life for our whole planet, now and in the years to come. In addition to this, perhaps I was wasting my money on a book I knew I might only read once, and then quite likely never read again. If I had that kind of money to throw around, ought I rather throw it in the direction of someone more needy than myself?
Thus, more recently I find myself doing the following:
Borrowing from the library (you can borrow up to sixteen at a time from my local!)
Buying second hand (Ebay, or the Amazon marketplace).
Buying new (if I really HAVE to have the book in question, and can’t get it second hand. I’ll try to order via my local independent bookshop if at all possible).
So take a leaf out of my borrowed/second-hand book. When you go on holiday this year, learn the above De Seuss trivium off by heart, and amaze your poolside companions. Go on, I dare you…!
Here is something i’ve just had posted on the ‘generous’ website, re ethical shopping:
Why Pay More?
08 May 2008 by Annie Porthouse
‘Why pay more?’ ASDA enquires of us, as though we’d be stark raving bonkers to ever shop anywhere else. Despite the rising cost of fuel and food, and the phrase ‘credit crunch’ becoming as familiar as the sound of our own breathing, large retailers are still determined to fill their shelves, and our homes, with cheap ‘stuff’.
‘Why pay more?’ we generous-minded shoppers reply. ‘Maybe because the people who grew or made this item need a fair wage in order to survive and raise their families. Because we don’t want to pollute the planet with ‘nasties’ and if it costs a bit more to buy organic or eco-friendly or fairly traded, well, we’ll do our best.’
That said, ‘ethical shopping’ has never been that clear cut. Many major retailers have cottoned on to the demand for ‘ethical’ goods. Take Primark. Back in 2005, Ethical Consumer Magazine voted them the least ethical clothing chain. The following year Primark became a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative. They now have an organic cotton range. Priced from £4, they’re a classic Primark bargain, but this time with an ‘eco-friendly’ tag. We can even carry our bargain home in an eco-friendly carrier bag!
Browsing through our favourite ‘generous’ style catalogue or website, we’re unlikely to be able to purchase a similar organic item so cheaply. A dilemma presents itself: To buy that organic T-shirt from Primark, and then be ‘generous’ with the money we save. Or to buy it from our small independent ‘ethical’ supplier (Traidcraft, for example) at a higher price, but be more confident about the ethics of the company we’re buying from.
Maybe the ‘generous’ way to shop is to buy less. Taking clothing for example:
* Make the clothes we have last longer (buy good quality)
* Swap with friends
* Buy second hand from eBay, jumble sales, charity shops
* Don’t be a slave to the latest fashions
After all, Every Little Helps!
this article was published on ‘thesheepdip’ in july of this year.
Can ’stuff’ buy happiness?
Joanne Gilbert, a 47 year old Welsh Grandmother was off on sick leave when she won the lottery – a cool £1.1 million, back in June of this year. However, she said she wanted to keep her feet on the ground with her £6-an-hour part-time job, working as a hospital cleaner. “I know it might seem strange to some people but I’ve been working at the hospital for 21 years, and it is a big part of my life.” explained Joanne, “I’m determined to keep my feet on the ground and just wanted to put my life back on an even keel after all the excitement.”
She opted against buying a bigger, grander house… but to remain in the terraced house she lived in. Similarly, she chose not to buy a flashy bling bling car, but to stick with her Peugeot 206.
The question to consider here is not so much ‘Can money buy happiness?’ but ‘Can stuff buy happiness?’ Think about it for a moment… what would you do? You’ve won the lottery or you’ve inherited a fortune – what would your next move be? It’s all very well to say that it wouldn’t change your life; that you’d do the same as Joanne did and carry on as normal, but would you really? Would you?! For many of us, the first thing we’d be considering would be purchasing bigger and better stuff. A new house, and plenty of new furniture to kit it out. A new car (or cars). New clothes. New gadgets. New toys for the kids. New stuff – loads of it.
We often hear of studies that reveal that, surprise surprise, the richest people aren’t always the happiest. Jesus promoted a similar idea: ‘Don’t invest in goods with a sell-by date; build up your balance in heaven. Don’t let dosh boss you around’ (Not his actual words, but the ‘Street Bible’s’ interpretation of them, taken from Matthew 6). Even if we haven’t come into vast amounts of money, it’s safe to say that we are, in fact very rich. If we have a roof over our head, food in the cupboard and clothes to wear, we are amongst the world’s top 25% richest. Yes… us… rich. Congratulations!
Instead of lusting after the ’stuff’ we would love to have but can’t afford, let’s be grateful for what God has given us. ‘There is far more to your life that the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance that the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Has anyone fussing in the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? … walk out into the fields and look at the wild flowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? … What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.’ (Matthew 6 again, taken from ‘The Message’)
Here’s a crazy idea. Make a list of all the material things you really want. All that stuff. Don’t be shy; if you want it, stick it on the list – it’s not as if you have to show anyone! Then, make a list of all the things you have got to be grateful to God for. Perhaps start with material things, and the fact that you’re one of the richest people on the planet, and lead on to more personal things – your family, friends, job (or whatever aspects of it you enjoy) hobbies, church, your favourite things – TV programmes, food, music, and so on. Why don’t you have these lists on the go over the space of a week; it’s sometimes hard to think of these things all in one go – too much stress on the brain! When you really can’t think of anything else to add to either list, take them to God. Be honest with Him about the things you wished you had – He knows it anyway, but He’d love for you to share those desires with Him. Ask Him to help you want them less. Rip that list up, or burn it. Then share the ‘grateful’ list with Him. Thank him for each and every thing on it – take your time. Allow yourself a little cry if you feel so inclined; sometimes it’s only when we stop and think about what we do have that we realise how blessed we really are. Ask Him to remind you of this list more frequently. Keep it. Pin it to your kitchen/office noticeboard.
You never know, do this on a regular basis and you too might be able to ‘do a Joanne’ and not allow money, and the ’stuff’ it can buy, to dominate your life… you never know.
PS Piccie is of Lake Como, Italy, from our recent hol… relevant as George Clooney, and other such rich dudes, has a villa here somewhere… is he happy, really?! (yes, probably!)
This article was published on ‘thesheepdip‘ in June of this year.
Around the World with 80 Books?
Whether you’d call yourself a bibliophile, a bibliophilist, a philobiblist… or perhaps just a common garden ‘bookworm’, one thing is clear: you’re bonkers about books. You might be the type of person who would know this sort of trivia:
All the proceeds earned from James M. Barrie’s book “Peter Pan” were bequeathed to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Barbara Cartland is the world’s top-selling author with over 500 million copies sold.
Cinderella’s slippers were originally made out of fur. The story was changed in the 1600s by a translator.
Dr. Seuss wrote “Green Eggs and Ham” after his editor dared him to write a book using fewer than 50 different words.
Or perhaps you’re always too busy absorbing the latest Jodi Picoult, Danielle Steele or Ben Elton novel to have time to acquire such knowledge. Either way, you’re addicted, you know it, and you love it. You’re not ashamed. Why should you be? Books are educational… classy… a notch up from slouching in front of the box. Portable entertainment that, unlike a PSP, doesn’t have any batteries to replace or run down. When you head off on your holidays this Summer, no doubt you’ll be buying a couple of new books to slip into your suitcase, to dive into in between diving into the Med and working on your tan.
But wait! Instead of darting into Waterstones and clearing their shelves of your favourite authors, why not pause to consider other people. “Other people… what other people??, you sensibly ask. The people who are suffering in this world because of the vast amount of forests being stripped of trees that are vital to their way of life. That are vital to the way of life for our whole planet, now and in the years to come, due to the effect deforestation has on climate change. In addition to this, it’s a waste of money to buy a book you’re going to read once, and then quite likely never read again. If you have this kind of money to throw around, perhaps you should throw it at those who are living in poverty in the third world; who don’t know where their next meal will come from, or if their children will live to reach adulthood.
Jesus asks us to love one another, over and over. He doesn’t stop on about it. Nor do the prophets of the Old Testament or the apostles of the New. So let’s aim to continue to enjoy ‘a good read’, without abusing God’s fantastic planet or wasting the money He’s given us (or cluttering up our bookshelves!).
Join the library
It’s free. You can borrow up to sixteen books at a time, and you can have them for up to three weeks. It’s so high-tech these days that you can even go to your local library’s website and renew your books online. If they don’t have the book you’re after, you can order pretty much any book that is in print – this will set you back a whole 80 pennies. (Library charges vary from county to county, but are roughly the same).
Some libraries also run reading groups (or support local reading groups, and can give you information about them). Or how about starting your own? Are there others in your church who might be interested in this idea – it could be a non-threatening way of inviting ‘outsiders’ in. The more you use your library, the better you’ll make the library service for those in your community. Sign up today… or dig out your old library card, dust it off, apologise for neglecting it, and put it back into action.
Buy Second Hand
If there’s a book you just have to own, then consider buying it second hand. Ebay is always a good place to start. You could try selling some books you aren’t likely to read again on there while you’re at it… raise the cash to buy ones you haven’t read! Then there are websites such as GreenMetropolis.com. By recycling used books not only are you saving existing trees, you’re actually planting new ones. How? GreenMetropolis donates 5p for every book sold to the ‘Plant a Tree’ scheme run by the Woodland Trust – the UK’s largest tree planting charity.
Try readitswapit.co.uk, a book swap site where you can exchange books with someone for the price of sending them second-class (about 43p for a standard paperback).
If you’re willing to give your books away, check out greengonzo.com, your local freecycle group, or of course good old charity shops. You could also consider donating them to your local GP surgery or hospital for their waiting room. Bookaid.org want your books so they can continue to send around half a million books to those in developing countries who need them. They also do a
Ask any missionaries your church is connected with if they could use books you’ve finished with, to give to those learning English, or to those who can’t afford to buy books – offer to start up a collection on their behalf.
Bookcrossing.com is a bizarre yet fun way to share your favourite books with others… complete strangers even! How about ‘releasing’ some books with a clear Christian message into your local community?
Buy New
Finally, some books are unavailable second hand, or you might want to keep a book for reference purposes and so on. Use websites and large bookshops to browse thorough and pick which book you want, then head for your local independent bookshop. You might have to order the book you want, but a short wait is better than using the larger shops that kill small businesses and town centres, and fix it so that buyers assume that a book’s only worth buying if Richard and Judy endorse it.
Once you’re all sorted with your borrowed/second hand books to take with you on holiday, learn the above book trivia off by heart, and amaze your holiday companions. Go on, you know you want to…!
(PS. this piccie, which didn’t come free with the article (!) is of penny and i when we were trying to get shots for our ‘re:writing’ website, about a million years ago. It was one of the only piccies i could find with books in it!)
This Article was published on thesheepdip this month (May 07):
We’re all going on a… Summer Holiday
Holidays. Cliff was right; not a bad idea, overall. You spend the majority of the year ‘finding windows’ you can squeeze your work, family, friends and church into. You long to pull the plug on your laptop/oven, arrange to swap your place on the church coffee/crèche rota, and escape; ‘No more working for a week or two’.
We’re all entitled to take a break from our insane busy-ness; from being ‘on call’ for our boss or kids. But what about taking a break from God? “A break from God?!? you cry! “Don’t be absurd?. Yes, it is absurd. However, many of us can ‘walk the talk’ when it suits us, and jack it in when we feel it’s ‘our time’. We’ve earned this holiday – we’re going to do what we want, when we want and how we want.
Perhaps the above has been over-stated to make a point, but it’s worth considering, nevertheless. Granted, few of us actually opt to stop praying or reading our bible when we go on holiday. But what about loving others? Every day we all make decisions that effect others; the way in which we treat the ones we meet and know… the way in which our lives impact on those we’ve never met and don’t know, in developing countries. Holidays are no exception.
This article is not intended to ruin the plans and dreams of our annual holiday – far from it! The word ‘holiday’ is based on the words ‘holy’ and ‘day’, as ‘holidays’ originally represented the celebration of special religious days. It’s very likely that God loves the fact that we choose to celebrate ‘taking a break’ or ‘having special time together with friends, or as a couple or family’. No doubt He celebrates our ‘Fun and laughter on our summer holiday’.
With this in mind, here are some issues for consideration:
The less we travel the less carbon emissions we’ll produce, so we need to holiday as local as possible. The UK is a fantastic place! Let’s not waste a large chunk of our annual salary on our holiday – it’s just not necessary. Select a cheaper holiday, giving the money ’saved’ to those who really need it, locally or in developing nations. We could consider swapping our house for someone else’s for the cheapest holiday ever (google to find ‘Christian Home Exchange Fellowship’ or ‘Christian House Swap UK’). Caravanning and camping come a close second.
To reduce our carbon footprint, it’s advisable to chose a destination with plenty of choice for foot, cycle, bus or rail. Check out options to buy local food and drink. Look out for food festivals and farmers markets. If we are considering staying in a hotel/Bed and Breakfast, ask them if they serve local and fairly traded food. Don’t shy away from asking them other questions about their environmental policy. If they don’t have one… back to the drawing board! Look for accommodation and attractions that are members of the ‘Green Tourism Business Scheme’ or if they are a caravan or touring park the ‘David Bellamy Award’ – they have made a commitment to becoming as green as possible and have to pass stringent criteria for them to be classed as an environmentally friendly business.
When it comes to planning, it might be best to ‘DIY’, but if you do opt for a holiday operator, ask them if they have an ethical policy. Are they committed to reducing waste and water use, and to minimising damage to wildlife and marine environments? If you’re aiming to holiday abroad with them, do they use local staff and, wherever possible, locally sourced produce? Do they pay fair wages to their local staff?
Lets’ make sure our cars are fully serviced and find out how to drive them at optimum efficiency – this will reduce carbon emissions. If they run on LPG, even better! The single most effective decision we can take to reduce our impact on the climate is not to fly. If we can’t resist it, consider offsetting flights (see www.climatecare.org) but be aware that it would still be far far better, and more loving towards humanity, not to fly at all. Minimise flying time and stopovers – the worst carbon emissions are emitted during take off and landing.
Although intended for pleasure and relaxation, holidays can sometimes prove to be more stressful than anticipated. Have a chat with your friends/partner/family before setting off. What can be done to reduce potential stressful situations on this holiday? For example, if long car journeys drive your small kids crazy, look at where you can make stops en route – plan to make them fun if possible!
Enjoying the sunshine is such a treat, but let’s not worship it, or let our kids worship it; inviting skin cancer into our or their bodies is not very honouring to the God who created them. Likewise, let’s enjoy our holiday food, but avoid overeating; this saves money and stops us from getting fat and ill.
If possible, why not visit a church in the area you’re holidaying in? It might be of a different denomination to yours, but who cares? Go crazy! See what God has to say to you through different people, rituals and songs… perhaps even a different language!
Consider taking longer to plan for your holiday this year to enable you to incorporate some of the above; pray for wisdom – you’ll need it. And, if it’s a beach holiday you’re after, sneak in a few prayers for sunshine. Then you can sing along with the confidence of Cliff: ‘We’re going where the sun shines brightly, we’re going where the sea is blue…’!
This article was published on thesheepdip this month:
Strawberries and cream (at least double, if not clotted)? Sausages and mash (with gravy and caramelised onions)? Chicken tikka and poppadoms (with mango chutney)? What can’t you live without? Let’s face it, most of us are food addicts. We know what we like; we tend to enjoy, rather than endure, our thrice daily refueling sessions.
It is a lot easier to link Christianity to music, or to art, or even to politics than it is to link it to food. We know we’re coming before God when we go to church, when we’re at housegroup or when we’re trying (occasionally) to ‘be salt and light’ in the workplace, or downing a few pints in our local. We are perhaps less aware of His presence when we’re filling our trolleys at Tescos. We know that God is supposed to be involved in every area of our lives; that we’re supposed to live a life of worship… but we often tend to write off some ‘areas’ as being so mundane that God won’t really mind if we don’t consult Him. Does He really care if we buy chocolate spread or Marmite for the kids’ sandwiches? Is he really interested in whether we eat out once a week or twice a week, and where, and how much we spend?
Here are a few ‘foodie’ issues for us all to chew on… don’t forget to swallow… stop when full:
WASTING FOOD
Britons waste more food than any other nation in the world, with an official study showing a third of what we buy ends up in the bin (so the BBC and The Guardian reported in March of this year). The annual value of food thrown away is put at £460 per head, which equates to a staggering £23billion a year. For a typical family of four, this means food worth around £35 is going into the bin every week. Yes, we could blame the supermarkets for their BOGOF deals. Likewise, we could blame ourselves for falling for them. If we buy what we know our household will eat, and no more, then we will lessen these tragic statistics. If this leaves us with more money, then there are billions of hungry people in this world who would willingly take it off our hands. If we still find ourselves with leftovers, let’s be creative and try to use them up, rather than sending them to their doom to rot in a landfill.
WASTING MONEY
Throughout the Bible, food plays an vital role in many forms of celebration; it is shared and enjoyed. Things haven’t changed – food today is still a key component of celebration: weddings, birthdays, parties… whatever the occasion, big or small, you can guarantee that someone has taken the trouble to organise/cook something special. But surely it is possible to enjoy good food with others without over-spending. When entertaining, buy a greater amount of cheaper ‘filling’ food (jacket potatoes, pasta or bread) and slightly less meat or other protein. Buy less food overall; don’t assume everyone will have thirds. If eating out, why not opt for just two courses rather than three. Ask for a jug of water for the table. It’s free, and it will help your party to spend less on over-priced drinks. If you can’t live without your wine, have one glass less than usual. Again, money saved can be sent to some of the 20% of this world who are severely undernourished (or perhaps the further 50% who are hungry some or all of the time).
CONSIDERING OTHERS
We are part of the 30% of the world’s population that has enough to eat. We don’t go hungry, ever (getting the ‘munchies’ mid-morning really doesn’t count). Jesus was fairly clear on this: We should love each other. The people we meet every day and the people we’ve never met, who live in developing nations. With all this in mind, as Christians, we should shop for locally produced food as much as is possible (and if it’s organic, all the better). Think farm shops or food delivery schemes, local butchers and greengrocers, etc. Remember, climate change will effect the poor of this world sooner, and more severely, than it will effect us. If it can’t be bought locally or from the UK at large, and it is produced in a developing nation, then make sure you’re buying a ‘fairly traded’ version of that particular food. There are 100s of lines of fairly traded food; no excuses!
OUR HEALTH
Many Christians are not in favour of smoking because they know that God wants us to look after the bodies He’s blessed us with, and smoking is bad for your health. It is surprising then that so many Christians are obese. They are not alone; the occurrence of obesity has increased by five fold since the Second World War and many obesity experts now believe we are seriously at risk of developing an obesity epidemic in the Western world in the next generation or even sooner. But our size is our choice, isn’t it? Not really. Being overweight or obese increases a person’s risk for developing type 2 diabetes, as well as a whole host of other illnesses, many which can lead to an early grave. Medical treatment costs a lot of money, even if we don’t have to cough up for it. Thus, money is, again, wasted. Lives that God intended for His purposes are ‘disabled’ or even cut short due to our lack of self-control. If we have any respect for God’s creation (us) we will aim to eat less, exercise more, and generally take good care of our bodies.
Let’s set an example. Buy less food. Entertain and celebrate with wise food choices, as well as with much joy. Eat more healthily. Go food shopping with other, less fortunate, people in mind. Treat food as though it was something we are privileged to have enough of, let alone to have so much choice and variety. Give food a bit more respect, and thank God for allowing us to sample the wonders of his culinary creation.
This article of mine was published on ‘thesheepdip’ this month.
I have managed to convert the intro scenario into a short sketch for church during FT fortnight, and also a talk at youth group… nifty!
The Two Shops
You live in a small town. It has only two shops. Both shops stock everything you need, from food and toiletries through to clothing and electrical equipment.
One shop, ‘Cheapstore’ has a reputation for treating its producers, factory and store staff, badly. Very badly. Producers and employees are poorly paid. The working conditions are appalling. Some have witnessed workers being beaten, even children, whom they seem to have no qualms about employing. Whoever complains gets immediate dismissal. Most, if not all, of those employed by Cheapstore, live in poverty, and can’t see any hope for the future. Depression is also rife, as is suicide.
The other shop, ‘People R Us’ attempts to pay its producers and staff a fair wage. The working conditions are as good as they can be. All employees are part of a union which meets together regularly to check that things are as they should be, or, if they’re not, that they get changed. These producers and employees aren’t living in luxury, but they are escaping poverty, because of People R Us. They have a good sense of self-worth, and are thus a reasonably happy bunch.
One town. Two shops. One ridiculously cheap. One whose prices reflect what it cost the shop to have that item grown/made initially, right through to putting it on the shelf.
You’re a Christian – which shop would you support?
This month has seen the annual ‘Fair Trade Fortnight’. No doubt many churches made some mention of it, or perhaps even went the whole hog and had a Fair Trade stall, or similar. It’s a great start, but as Christians, is it enough to feel as though we’ve ticked the right boxes, just because we’ve switched to fairly-traded tea, coffee and bananas?
Granted, few of us are naïve enough to assume that the above ‘two shops’ scenario sums up all the issues or problems involved; it’s not that simple. These two shops don’t exist in our town and we can’t always rely on companies to be accountable to us, whatever the rumours about them, good or bad. That said, it would be sad if we were naïve to the point where we said: There’s too much to think about – I’m just going to shop like I always have, and assume it won’t make a difference to peoples’ lives.
To state: ‘I support Fair Trade’ is a bit like saying ‘I support treating my partner well’. We know that Jesus wants us to treat those we know with love; to respect and honour them rather than hate and abuse them. Maybe it’s harder to take on board that this applies equally to those we don’t know (those in developing countries). Just as we wouldn’t feel happy about acting in a hateful or abusive way to our partner, we shouldn’t feel happy about buying anything from a developing country unless we know it involves fair trade, and not unfair trade (it’s worth noting that such products are not ‘fair trade’ or ‘normal’… if they’re not fairly-traded, they are quite likely to be very unfairly-traded!).
So, what are some positive ways that we can make ‘Fair Trade Fortnight’ last all year round, as a church?
1] Use fair trade tea, coffee and sugar in your kitchen. (If you run a coffee shop, also consider fair trade hot chocolate, snack bars, biscuits and so on).
2] What about other church gatherings or events? If you’re running a housegroup in your house, aim to be a person/household that uses fairly-traded items all the time, so that when you serve your housegroup drinks and snacks, you can lead by example. If you need T-shirts for stewards at your outreach event, kids club or camp… look into buying some made with fairly-traded cotton.
3] Does your church youth group have a tuck shop? See if you can replace a couple of items with some fairly-traded ones. Use this switch in stock to discuss with the children/teens the issues involved, in a way that’s relevant to them.
4] If you have a Church weekend away, see if you can get those in charge of catering to buy fairly-traded products. If people are making cakes or biscuits to take, ask if they can use fairly-traded chocolate, sugar, nuts and dried fruit.
5] Raise awareness – put up a poster on the noticeboard listing the huge variety of fairly-traded products now available, and which shops in your town stock which items (ask the youth group to design it!). Give two minute reminders during the morning service, as often as they’ll allow you! Go crazy – use drama, show a short film, give out chocolate samples… anything to get the message across!
6] Become a Fair Trader for Traidcraft or Tearcraft… or both! Hold a monthly stall after Church on a Sunday morning – encourage people to stock up!
We do live in a small town. Jesus said we should love each other. The town is called planet Earth. Jesus said we should love each other. Earth contains lots of producers and lots of shops. Jesus said we should love each other. When we shop, let’s avoid the ‘Cheapstores’ of this world and switch our support to the ‘People R Us’ chain. It makes sense. A simple alteration in our shopping habits can mean the difference between ’struggling with poverty’ and ‘climbing out of poverty’ for those on other parts of the planet. Why should we bother? Because Jesus said we should love each other.
Useful websites:
www.traidcraftshop.co.uk
www.tearcraft.org
www.fairtrade.org.uk
This article was published on thesheepdip
Feb 07
It’s a daft question. Still, we’ve got a minute or two to spare; let’s ponder it for a while. Biblically, we can say with full assurance that He drove a Honda Accord, but had the humility not to boast about it. He himself professed: For I did not speak of my own accord… (John 12:49). Modern-day critics would dispute this, after all, Robbie Williams was so insistent that Jesus drove a Camper Van that he made it the title of one of his songs. While the Rev Clive Jones of Staplehurst in Kent says Jesus would opt for a car “despised and rejected of men – a Skoda”.
Politicians, the media, your next door neighbour, the people on the next table in the pub… everyone’s talking about climate change. We complain about the lack of snow when we want to go ski-ing (if we are rich enough to enjoy such holidays) or we stress about the idea of a future where people struggle to survive a world that’s gone to pot, due to our behaviour in the here and now. Most people know what puts CO2 into the atmosphere and what doesn’t. Maybe a few less people are re-thinking their lifestyles and making changes, radical changes, to make sure they’re not part of the problem. Or at least, that they’re less a part of the problem that they were before.
Jesus says we should love others (Matthew 22:39). In fact, He goes so far as to say that we should love others in the same way that we love ourselves. So if we don’t really fancy having all our worldly possessions, house, and perhaps even family members and friends swept away by floods, or be hit by freak tropical storms, or suffer from long term drought that causes our crops to fail… then perhaps we ought to think again about how we’re treating the world’s poorest people, and even our own descendants.
One easy-peesy way that we can take action is to give more thought to our transportation. As well as flying less (or preferably not at all) and taking public transport where possible, we can all focus on our car usage. Here are several suggestions that will help reduce those CO2 emissions – take your pick!
Drive Less:
Only make journeys that are totally necessary.
Walk or cycle all journeys of less than a mile.
For longer journeys, use the bus or train.
Lift-share
Take a car-free holiday.
Organise a car-sharing scheme in your local community.
Get food and other goods delivered to your home.
Work from home, if possible.
Ensure you do as many jobs as possible in one trip.
Avoid congested areas (and rush hour) to reduce travel time.
Drive Wisely:
Inflating tyres to the correct pressure cuts emissions by 5%.
Control your speed – travelling at less than 15mph creates the most pollution. (Increased speed up to 50mph means your level of pollution decreases. Over 50mph increases your level of pollution again.)
Get in the right gear – top gear is most energy-efficient.
Avoid drag – e.g. remove the trailer or roof rack, shut windows and the sunroof. Remove any excess weight.
Avoid unnecessary revving, idling of the engine, harsh acceleration and braking as this uses more fuel.
Avoid overfilling the tank as spilled fuel evaporates and releases harmful emissions.
Convert your current car to LPG, or even to run on biofuels!
Lobbying:
Put pressure on your local Council to give priority to people rather than vehicles: traffic calming schemes, cycle facilities, pedestrian crossings, and lorry restrictions.
Continue to press the government to give higher priority to an integrated public transport system: simplified ticketing and easily accessible information.
Your church…
Hold a ‘No-car Sunday’.
Organise Lift-sharing for services.
Organize a church outing/weekend away using public transport!
Find out whether your church leader gets an allowance for cycle mileage as well as car mileage.
Check if your church has a cycle-rack as well as a car park.
Give out local bus timetables out church.
If purchasing a church mini-bus choose one which is fuel efficient.
Raise awareness in your congregation – download CEL’s Green Transport Leaflet, print out, and sneak them into copies of your Sunday notice sheet when ‘they’ aren’t looking! [www.christian-ecology.org.uk/green-transport.pdf]
What would Jesus drive if He were on Earth today? Who knows. Perhaps He wouldn’t drive at all, or he’d become a keen cyclist (although He’d have to take care that His flowing white robes didn’t get caught in the wheel spokes). As far as we’re concerned, to consider the above ideas would surely be the most ‘loving’ gesture to others, whether we drive a sanctified Honda Accord, Camper Van or Skoda… or just some far-less-holy common ‘other’ car. If the car is ours, the choice is ours also.
buy my latest greenbelt talk:
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