Chirstmas Consumerism and Teens

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters/k12news/HI_Trends&TudesNews2005_v4_iss12.pdf?j=2903024&e=stasia71@yahoo.com&l=692018_HTML&u=42276179

I just read an interesting article on teens and consumerism over Christmas.  It was a good article and the link is a copy of that article.

The thing that I found really interesting was teens were asked what they would do if they won $10000.
Some responses were good but the one that stuck out was this one.
“First I would buy me an Xbox 360 and all the games that I want then I would pay off most of my bills and if I have anything left over I would donate 1/3 of it to the people affected by the hurricanes�

Tell me  is playing the charity card at the end of statement tell you anything about where this person’s heart is at?

The most troubling part of this persons statement is, “if I have anything left over I would…�
To me it is indicative of a mind set in our society that says after I have enough then I will look after those who don’t.  The problem is do we ever have enough.  

If looking after the poor is an after thought.  If giving to charity or our churches is based on what we have left over our giving patterns will never change.

My daughters school is doing a program called pennies from heaven for Christmas, and I love what they say, that every penny makes a difference.

I am not asking you or me to sell everything and give it to the poor, but to do something.  To consider what more you can do.  Let face it at our current involvement not enough is being done.  If we truly want to save lives and end poverty we need to do more.