Fresh Old Ideas
Arnold Malone
Christmas cards often depicted Christmas as a long-ago perfect time. Pictures of log cabins decorated for the season, horse-drawn sleds bringing home a tree, or a couple skating on a pond wearing old time winter clothing.
Christmas is a season filled with nostalgia. Each season harkens back to memories of years gone by. Usually wrapped in the emotions of a simple joy from a time long ago. Often the Christmas season is an attempt to regenerate the warm feelings that are tucked away in our memory.
In this urbanized world most people born after 1980 have never been near a horse and it would be very rare if they have ever seen a cutter or a bob-sled. Still, with joy, they love to sing, “Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.”
Christmas has so much to do with the delight of children. As those young ones grow into adulthood conversations often reflect on the excitement of their past years.
Church bells ring out their invitation to attend while stores – for a period too long – play Christmas music. The commercial use of Christmas music is more about a persuasion to buy than it is about the spirit of Christmas.
Christmas is a time for giving. The origin for that desire is founded in the story of three wise men, believing that a new saviour had been born, travelled to Bethlehem carrying gifts.
Ever since, the season has become a time for us to give to others. Usually within a family or to special friends and sometimes to others in the broader community. For those who are altruistically inclined, giving can be a gift from those who have to those who have not.
Giving is a special joy. Of course, when we give to another who has less we have a sense of being worthy. But giving to another just to give a surprise or unexpected nicety has a high measure of reward. It is such a delight to watch another open a gift and find an unexpected surprise.
I have often wondered what the billionaires give, assuming that they already have almost everything they could desire.
Perhaps the most altruistic form of giving is a gift to those who you will never meet. Donations to build a school in a developing country or supporting a program to restore eyesight to the visually impaired are such examples.
Many people, however, want to give to causes close to home. In such situations there is no better outlet for giving than to a community foundation. Community foundations excel for their efficiency in giving. They often operate with volunteer staff, and when there is a paid staff they operate on a modest income.
Contrast that approach with paying taxes to a government and then making an application for a project. Your application will be reviewed by a bureaucracy of well-paid staff, application forms will be developed and evaluated, and then judgments will be made by persons who are not familiar with your community.
That is not the case with a community foundation. With a foundation the people who make the choices to reward a project are the same people who live in and understand your community.
Not everyone is in a position to be a giver of material items, but everyone is in a position to give friendship and love. So, have a merry Christmas and a wonderful 2025.
