{"id":10205,"date":"2024-01-02T09:18:55","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T14:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=10205"},"modified":"2024-01-02T10:19:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T15:19:47","slug":"january-7-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/january-7-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"January 7, 2024–Tear It Open!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Zuber, Harrisonburg, VA<\/b><\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/b><\/h4>\n

What is the most urgent or pressing thing in your life right now?\u00a0 <\/span>(It could be a good thing or a challenge)<\/p>\n

Tear It Open!<\/b><\/h4>\n

For all the build-up, Christmas just flies by too fast!\u00a0 <\/span>Some of us (me included) may have been singing along with Mariah Carey\u2019s “All I Want for Christmas is You” since November 1, but Christmas is still over too soon.<\/p>\n

I know I could slow down and savor the moment more, but I\u2019m always far too delighted by the frenzied rush of Christmas morning.\u00a0 <\/span>It doesn\u2019t seem to matter what age I am, when I get a package wrapped in bright, shiny, joyful paper, I just want to tear it open as fast as I can!\u00a0 <\/span>Whether you\u2019re in a family that has everyone open their presents all at once, or one where. you patiently wait to open one present at a time, while everyone watches, there\u2019s a magical thrill to tearing open the wrapping paper.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As joyful as this practice is each year, I always feel a bit of sadness as I carry huge garbage bags loaded with Christmas wrapping paper out to the street for the trash collection.\u00a0 <\/span>Not just because Christmas is over, but because this joyful tradition is inherently wasteful.\u00a0 <\/span>The site Brightly<\/a> says, “The U.S. is estimated to produce 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper every year, and half of that\u2014approximately 2.3 million pounds\u2014winds up in landfills.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just the paper in those trash bags! \u201cRibbons and bows are a problem, too: If every family reused two feet of ribbon, it would save enough to\u00a0tie a bow around the planet<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>It pulls at my heart to balance \u00a0this joyful tradition of tearing open presents with the deep call I feel to better steward creation.\u00a0 <\/span>Perhaps we can have both.\u00a0 <\/span>We can all take simple steps to find eco-friendly paper, reuse some paper and bags, wrap more creatively with repurposed paper, and look into reusable cloth alternatives.<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/b><\/h4>\n