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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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December 2005 |
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The busiest timeMany people are surprised to hear that one of Anglicare's busiest times of the year is in January and February. Chris Jones explains why. We see significant increases in the number of clients accessing our crisis accommodation, emergency relief and financial counselling services in that after-Christmas period, struggling to pay rent, buy groceries or meet the minimum payment on their maxed-out credit card. Many of our clients live on low, fixed incomes. It's already a struggle to pay the bills and put food on the table. They can't access affordable credit, so they end up using credit cards with high interest rates. They have not been any more extravagant than the next person over Christmas. It's just that unlike the next person, ordinary Christmas spending stretches them to breaking point. Spiritually, Christmas is about the birth of Christ. Culturally, it's about being with the people we love. Individually, even those who are not practising Christians find their own meaning and develop their own rituals around Christmas. And there are lots of reasons why people spend too much. Yes, one of those reasons is the tinsel in the shops, carols at the checkout and Santa hats on every street corner. Catalogues bulging with bargains and pre-Christmas sales. Yes, in some ways we have, as a community, forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. Yes, it has been taken over and commercialised. But another reason for overspending might be that after a year of struggling to stay ahead of the bills, people want to have one nice day in which to treat themselves. Another might be the linkage between Christmas and families. People whose families are facing hardship, breakdown or illness might feel that if the trimmings are present and correct, then the happy family will materialise with Santa out of the chimney. Children might be part of it. Over and over, people tell us that the hardest thing about poverty is saying 'no' to your kids. I don't know how many words are written each year lamenting the loss of the spirit of Christmas and speculating on how we might find it again. But I think we could start by reaching out to other people and letting them know we care.
The Rev. Chris Jones is CEO of Anglicare Tasmania. Anglicare offers a range of support services to people in need, at Christmas and throughout the year. To find out more, call 1800 243 232. |
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