This week I've been a bit under the weather, so I'm bringing you an older episode from 2021, all about how to really prepare for Christmas. In this giving season, let's tune our hearts to how God is calling us to live these hope-peace-joy-love weeks well and to be present with our sisters and brothers with whatever we have.

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Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

In this season, our minds turn toward giving, and in this episode we'll talk about the what, where, when, how, and why we give as people of faith. Let's be intentional to give well this year in a way that benefits the recipients of our giving as well as ourselves.

1. As promised, ⁠"Christmas Morning"⁠ from Saturday Night Live, 2020

2. Song: ⁠Simple Gifts⁠, Traditional - Yo-Yo Ma

3. Song: ⁠Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring⁠ - Aaron Copland, John Williams, Boston Pops Orchestra

4. Look at (and research using a service such as ⁠Charity Navigator⁠) charities that resonate with your talent, interest, and resources and give to them directly, as gifts, or in honor of loved ones. If you're local to me - ⁠My Brother's Keeper⁠ is a good place to give at this time of year and year-round.

5. A short piece I wrote in 2015 about listening to our inner voice to direct our giving, divine reciprocity, and about finding God in a grocery store (which I do all the time): ⁠Pineapples, Orange Soda, Chicken Salad⁠

6. All about ⁠St. Nicholas, Gift Giver⁠, from St. Nicholas Center

7. Song: ⁠Give a Little Bit⁠, by Supertramp (How does knowing we're all "on our way back home" affect how you give?)

8. Journal prompts:

As I look back on my life, how does my own lived experience inform how and to whom I give?

If I've suffered hardship (as we all have), how can I turn that experience for the good by investing in and helping my community in a specific way?

How can I care for myself well in this season so that my giving comes from a place of health and not depletion this year?

What am I good at? What do I have? What do I know? How could I use these things to make the life of someone else better?

9. Video: ⁠The Joy of Giving⁠: effects of giving on our brains, by Big Think

10: Song: ⁠In the Bleak Midwinter⁠ - Worcester Cathedral Choir, Christina Rossetti, Gustav Holst