It is better to Give than Receive - Acts 20:35
Every
year, during the Christmas holiday, this phrase (which is attributed to
Jesus Christ) is slapped on advertisements for everything from cars,
jewelry, and toys to charity programs. Every possible opportunity is
used to remind people that Christmas is the "season of giving", so that
they spend more and more in the Christmas consumer market.
Let's take a moment to consider what this statement actually implies...
In
order for someone to give, someone must receive - therefore if it is
better to give than receive, then the person who is giving is "better"
than the person who gets. And the person who gives the MOST is the Best
and most Blessed. Although we may not want to admit it, this also
implies that the person who gives the Least is the Worst.
We have accepted this value system
and taken it to the extreme, so that the Christmas holiday has become a
competition to see who can give the most and in return get the most.
This is perpetuated by the fantastical story of Santa Claus - the man
who sacrifices every moment of his life planning and creating things to
give to people on Christmas Eve - which is quite parallel to the story
of Jesus Christ who sacrificed his life for our sins, which is the story
we tell ourselves throughout the rest of the year.
During
Christmas, Santa Claus is the idyllic giver, literally a Saint- a jolly
judge who gives to those who have been "nice" and punishes those who've
been naughty by giving them nothing. - and this is the role which all
of the rest of us must emulate. However, since Santa Claus does not
actually exist - his role is played secretly by parents. And the More
that parents Give, the better they Are. And the better they Feel - *A study
came out that shows that when a person gives something to another
person which they believe to be "good" - they get a release of a
chemical to the brain called the "cuddle hormone" which gives them a
really good feeling.* So parents can reap the emotional (and chemical)
benefits of the Santa Fanta-sy, while training their children to believe
that Christmas is about Feeling Good.
But,
Giving in our society implies having money in the first place. So what
happens to the parents can't afford to buy their children a mountain of
presents, those who are struggling just to survive everyday?
Becoming
more and more popular are "Christmas Loans" - where people who can't
afford Christmas presents to take out cash loans so they can make sure
they can give their children a "proper Christmas". Some people end up
taking out a loan which they can't even pay off in one year - and
therefore they're in the same position the following Christmas. They
drive themselves further and further into debt - and the cost of the
"joy of giving" is the pain of struggling without money throughout the
rest of the year.
Now for those who can't even take out loans - there's always Charity...
Charity
is a HUGE industry during Christmas for obvious reasons... Because,
charity is the BEST kind of Giving - therefore, people who give to
charity get the Best feeling and can consider themselves the Best
people. Most charities offer up some kind of product that you can buy
where some of the proceeds are donated to poor families who can't afford
Christmas. Or you can just donate money so that a poor family can buy a
tree. This charity let's you donate $35 to send a shoe box full of "pens, pencils, necessary items, and motivational notes"
to children in third world countries - and they call this "blessing a
child". Christmas charity allows YOU to feel like a Saint for the
entire year!!
**Note
that Christmas Charities also allow you to unload any extra income that
puts you over your tax bracket that year - so you can feel Great and
keep more of your money too! coincidence?**
We
play out this cycle every year, where ONE time during the year we want
to feel really GOOD through Giving, while more and more people get
poorer and poorer -- which means more people must suffer through the
struggle to survive so that the few of us can get a good feeling. The
lives of the majority of the people are just getting worse -- no matter
how many shoe boxes of junk you donate to little poor kids.
Let's rewrite the statement "it is better to give than receive" to this:
"It is BEST for all to Receive Equally"
Because,
when all people are being supported equally in every moment all year
long -- then no one will have to rely on the desire of others to get
that Good feeling from giving. In fact, all of us will get to have the
BEST experience when ALL of us are supported -- we won't need a Santa
Claus to sacrifice himself -- in fact no one will need to sacrifice
anything anymore.
The
Equal Money System is the Gift that we give to each and every human
being on this planet -- so this year, do something that will actually
change this world to one where there is NO poverty, NO starvation, and
NO children suffering -- Donate to the research for the Equal Money System.
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