The nights are drawing in, the clocks have gone back, the winter duvets are being dug out from the back of the airing cupboard and Britons are steeling themselves for another long, grey, cold winter. It’s hardly surprising that we so readily embrace every bright spot that comes along, and between now and the end of April we have plenty to look forward to. Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day give us ample opportunities to cheer ourselves and our loved ones up with gifts and indulgent treats, all facilitated by the ever-willing retailers.
Yet it may come as a surprise to learn that the third biggest festival in terms of spending in the
The food-, drink-, decorations- and gift-buying extravaganza that is the British Christmas still outstrips Halloween-spending by hundreds of millions of pounds, and Britons’ spending around 31 October can’t hold a pumpkin-scented candle to the US$5.9bn our American counterparts shell out on ghost-themed goodies, but it has sharply increased over the last decade. According to one retail analysis firm,
Although much of the Halloween spend goes on sweets and chocolates to be given away, it would be a stretch to argue that householders were giving out of a sense of generosity and love towards their neighbours’ children – giving is required to avoid negative consequences. And this is symptomatic of much of our giving; we give either in order to ward off evil spirits (or marauding children), or in order to secure our position in the social world we inhabit; giving in order to appear generous and loving; giving in order to fit in. Even Christmas is not immune, with many people giving to co-workers, neighbours and distant family members more out of a sense of obligation that a desire to bless. We give, not from the overflow of a thankful heart, but in order to receive.
It is noteworthy that while one autumn festival has grown and flourished in recent years in the
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the British place a lower value on opportunities for generosity than on excuses for gluttony.
Luke Bretherton, in Hospitality As Holiness, uses the parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14.15-24) to highlight two contrasting models of celebration. At first the banquet-giver invited the wealthy and prestigious members of the community to his feast. Bretherton’s argument is that these were the people from whom the man could expect reciprocity; his offer was not truly generous as it was not clearly un-selfinterested. When spurned by the wealthy, the man then extended his offer to the poor and needy – those who could not ever return his hospitality. Bretherton terms this the ‘economy of blessing’, in stark contrast to the economy of exchange in which our giving usually operates. A blessing is a gift freely given, with no expectation of a return or even, when done with the purest heart, of increased social standing or honour.
The credit-card debt, the social fragmentation and the gluttonous consumerism of 21st Century Britain could be transformed if our activities at times of celebration focussed less on indulging ourselves and more on blessing others.
Jennie Pollock is Executive Administrator at Theos.
