Am I My Brother's Keeper?

I've just bought a new pair of curtains.  I'm sure you all wanted to know that.  (In case you are interested, the colour is described - unnecessarily alcoholically, in my opinion - as 'champagne', and there's a picture below).  There's nothing unusual about that, of course, particularly with a new home to fit them into.  As it happens, it was one of three significant purchases this week.  Having done my research beforehand, I found I had to go to a second store for the curtains, but it was at a price that enabled me to make my two other purchases and still have 'change' from the price my research had indicated.

When it comes to things like that, things I could really make do without, I always feel under some obligation to justify myself.  After all, I've been living behind temporary window coverings for the last few months ... what was preventing my continuing to do so?  It's just that they were quite thin and I felt that something more substantial would make the room feel warmer for the winter ... and possibly reduce the (as yet unquantified) heating bills!

As I go through my post I put aside begging letters from charities with whose aims I agree.  Then, once a month, I go through these and decide whether to give them some money or, if not, whether the letter is recycled or left in the basket for another time.  Justifying the expenditure on curtains is part of that same agony over charitable giving.  

I'm not wealthy, but I can be comfortable ... within the general scenario that I have a finite amount of money that will have to keep me in whatever state I choose for as long as I have left on this earth.  It's all a matter of responsibility.  If I decide to splash out on a luxury cruise, for example, I know that it will reduce the amount of time I can spend in comparative comfort before I have to get out the begging bowl; if I make an elaborate gift to a charity, it will ultimately reduce what a handful of chosen institutions will share as the residue of my estate.

I've been reminded that 'Christmas is coming'.  I'm heartened to hear that increasing numbers of people are boycotting the annual expensive and meaningless exchange of presents: 'using money they don't have, to buy gifts that won't last, for people who neither need nor will appreciate them', as someone neatly put it.  If this process is stripped back to its essentials, it is fundamentally to satisfy the need of the giver to give ... or maybe, less altruistically, to be seen to give.  A pressure comes from outside of ourselves - some would call it God's hand, others would not - to respond to benefits we have received in the past year, maybe faithful service rendered, maybe some tangible gift received.

I spend very little on my festive celebrations - just a few luxuries I wouldn't have during the rest of the year - and allocate an additional amount to the 'charity basket'.  Ten or fifteen years ago, when I was a fan of Sir Terry Wogan, part of my Christmas giving went to Children in Need; other charities I've supported at this time of year are Crisis, Shelter and the excellent work of the Salvation Army.  This year, I'm thinking of pushing something in the direction of organisations trying to alleviate the suffering of starving people in Yemen, Ethiopia or Afghanistan, always remembering that, within months of His birth, our Saviour was a refugee.

It's not that my humble contribution to whichever charity receives it will achieve their aims overnight.  In the overall scheme of things, it might not make much difference at all.  A few weeks ago, I wrote here at the end of what I described as a 'political rant', referring to the wise saying of a friend on this matter.  It's not a question of how much good I'm doing, rather one of making a worthwhile response to that external pressure to give.

With Christmas in the air, it seems that the media have taken up cudgels on behalf of those who feel inadequately advised about Christmas parties.  There is much about our present government and its doings with which I would take issue; however, on this matter I'm with them.  The situation is clear.  While legislation only requires mask-wearing in shops and on public transport, it does not ban gatherings and parties (as it did last year).  Alongside this legislation is abundant advice about hand-washing and distance keeping; there is strong encouragement about being vaccinated and nothing to stop people wearing a mask in situations where they are not legally obliged to do so if they feel it to the advantage of others or themselves.  One politician even suggested refraining from 'snogging under the mistletoe'.

In the face of all this, I have to ask, "Have we forgotten how to make up our own minds?"  There are aspects of this advice to apply to the various features of most parties.  Surely we are capable of making sensible arrangements for our guests; if invited to join with our friends and families, to consider whether we are comfortable with the suggested entertainment; and if matters are not to our feelings of personal safety, to politely refrain and be understood in that?

And finally, for the curtain-curious: