There is a movement afoot that is taking a look at how charity and aid might be done better at both the local and global levels. It is based on the 2009 book, "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself", by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.

The authors claim that the causes of poverty are often not truly understood, which routinely results in aid strategies that actually harm both poor people and the helpers themselves. Now, two years after the book's release, author Steve Corbett is on a speaking tour, presenting new ideas for helping the materially poor.

The suitably-named "Helping without Hurting" conference recently pulled into London, Ontario, and it attracted even more people than the organizers expected, showing great interest in this area for both secular and faith-based organizations.

At the heart of Corbett’s message is the need to:

• move more quickly from relief efforts to development efforts
• investigate what is truly needed by the people (rather than assuming we know what they need), and
• ensure that the people being helped are active participants in moving forward. As Corbett said: “Development isn't done to people or for people but with people.”

Corbett gave the example of the ongoing problems in Haiti, where he feels that relief money poured in for too long. Instead of using a work-for-benefit strategy, everything was given away for free (a very common strategy), which resulted in their local employers and food merchants going out of business. By ignoring the valuable human assets already there, the generous but misdirected aid funds actually deepened the poverty in Haiti!

In the past two years Corbett and his team has been busy, working with the Chalmers Center for Economic Development. On this site you can find freely usable new strategies for helping the materially poor.

A key element of an improved aid strategy is to recognize the importance of having helpers willing to walk together with the people in need — a process that takes time, listening and compassion. In an age where we often think that money will fix the problem, it turns out that really knowing and caring about people (and their dignity) is even more vital.

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Christmas time is a special time of the year, regardless of one's faith. It provides a time to remember people we care about, to travel to see family and friends, and to pause and reflect on years old and new.

There are endless variations on gifts to buy, and it's easy to be sold on buying more. But I don't think we need to.

There is no gift better than a heartfelt hug, and no words are sweeter to hear than "I love you." When you stand by someone through the tough times, you bring them encouragement and strength. When you say "I'm sorry" you wash away distance and pain. When you smile and thank people in your life, be they a friend or a service provider, you create community.

When people stand together they see the common goals we all share: peace, love, health and joy.

Here's to standing by each other, and caring more each day.

We are all part of our society – benefitting and struggling within the system we share. We might think of ourselves as isolated from the rest of the world, but our lives are entwined – connected to the world through our supply chain of food and materials, and to people around the world through our relationships and shared goals.

As powerful and important as any one person might be, they are supported by the efforts of others.

As humble and unknown as any of us might feel, we live together within the world, and our existence affects the world.

No matter where we are now, no matter what we or others know of our real potential, we all want a better future, and can help to create a better future – for ourselves, for our family, for our friends, for our community, and for our world.

A future where:

- We can each use our real skills and abilities, which might be different from those we use to live right now.
- There is a role for each of us that is valued and appreciated.
- There are more smiles and hugs.
- Everyone is safe, fed, clothed and healthy.
- Caring is recognized as both vital and possible, because we work on things we care about, with and for people we care about.
- Happiness is not marketed as being dependent on money or stuff.
- We can afford to be less greedy because we have things that mean more to us than stuff and money.
- There is more fun, more music and more treasured moments.
- We feel hope and optimism, because good things are happening around us and include us.
- We rediscover, every day, that people matter most, and we are included.

There are many bubbles of awareness popping up in our society. People are becoming dissatisfied by the short-term happiness of owning more stuff, and disillusioned by frequent economic problems. People who want to work can't find jobs, and people see important things – like freedom and a healthy planet – being disrespected and abused. Generations of people have been cajoled and bullied into thinking that our current type of economy and life style is the only possible way, and it's wearing down hard-working, good-hearted folks.

It's not just the Occupy movement that is expressing this – there are discussions within companies and coffee shops, at the kitchen table and amongst friends. Entire countries are being pushed past their financial abilities and reaching economic meltdown. People are questioning what is going on in their lives and in our world. It's a wide-spread feeling of yearning and discontent that flat screen TVs and shopping can no longer suppress.

No-one knows quite what to do about it. Yet. And that's okay.

Some of the best things take the longest, and take the greatest number of people to make it happen. There are a lot of people who want things to be better, who are starting to see the possibilities of a better future, and who recognize the power of being kind and trying hard. Like bubbles in water they are rising and merging to bring a breath of fresh air and hope.

There might be a lot of things to set right in our world, but there are a lot of people to get things done. Big changes can happen when many people make small changes – changes that actually make our lives better – that benefit everyone, even people who currently think that money is the key to happiness.

We can do it, together. Bubble by bubble.

Keep reminding yourself (and those around you) that happiness is not based on what money can buy for us, but on what our lives become when we're focused on sharing community, health, music and peace. Helping others is a great source of joy and progress, so find ways to make a difference in your life and neighborhood.

There is a paradigm shift going on, with changes happening in our attitudes and outlook. It is like when people learned that the Sun is the center of our solar system, not the Earth. Except this time it is people figuring out that people need to be the center of our lives, not money.

You can help change the world, a bit at a time. Start being a bubble of hope and caring. Spread the word: people matter. Let's see how changing things a bit today can help us all occupy a better future.

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In her cheerful yet poignant song, Price Tag, Jessie J helps shine some light on our society's obsession with money. In an age of endless encouragement to buy things, it is refreshing to hear a musical artist reminding us there are simpler, priceless aspects of life.

Teaming up with American rapper B.o.B. and producer Dr Luke, Jessie J sings about the importance of truth, music and life.

Some of Jessie J's understanding comes from her own life, being diagnosed with a heart defect at the age of 11 and suffering a stroke at 18. She's experienced earlier than most the "life-is-hard" lesson, and uses that to help us do our own exploring about what is really important in life – about things more priceless than money.

[Here's an alternate video of Price Tag on YouTube by Trojan Lazo, with some good interpretive images.]

While her lyrics "It's not about the money / Forget about the price tag" are powerful, they are perfect dark mirrors of what we really need to keep in mind:

1) That for almost everyone in western culture, too much of life *is* about money, stuff, and our own needs, and
2) We need to see the bigger, long-range price tag of our excessive consumerism, including:

• Unmanageable personal, business and national debt, which cause us to pay so much interest that we become long-term prisoners of previous purchases.
• Making decisions in our lives that focus on ourselves rather than others, robbing us of the joys of community, sharing and helping others.
• Polluting our wonderful planet, encouraging companies to make things we don't need, and people discarding useful things just to get a new thing.

Perhaps the most telling lyric of Jessie J's song is the revealing phrase: "Got your shades on your eyes". She's not just talking about expensive sunglasses.

The marketing machine works feverishly, every day, telling us what we "need" – what we should want – and trying to convince us that life just won't be good unless we own whatever thing, goo or food that they want to sell us.  We need to wake up, and be aware of how advertising is working against us.

The truth is that life can be good without a focus on money, and without owning so much stuff. In fact, life has always been better when it is about your friends, your family, and your community – when we've focused on trying hard, being kind, and sharing time.

Please do some thinking about the moments when you are really happy – like when you're sharing a laugh with friends – when you're figuring something out at work – when you've helped someone and they smile in thanks.

And when you stand in the blinding beacon of marketing, and you're being sold false joy – put on your sunglasses – and see through the advertising glare to the costs of caring too much about stuff. Don't forget about the price tag.

Rob Hueniken

"Price Tag"
(By Jessie J, featuring B.o.B)

[Jessie J]
Okay, Coconut man, Moon Heads and pea
You ready

Seems like everybody's got a price,
I wonder how they sleep at night.
When the sale comes first,
And the truth comes second,
Just stop for a minute and
Smile

Why is everybody so serious?
Acting so damn mysterious?
Got your shades on your eyes
And your heels so high
That you can't even have a good time

[Pre-chorus:]
Everybody look to their left (yeah)
Everybody look to their right (uh)
Can you feel that (yeah)
We're paying with love tonight

[Chorus:]
It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the price tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Ching Cha-Ching
Ain't about the (yeah) Ba-Bling Ba-Bling
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the price tag.

[Jessie J]
We need to take it back in time,
When music made us all unite!
And it wasn't low blows and video hoes,
Am I the only one getting tired?

Why is everybody so obsessed?
Money can't buy us happiness
Can we all slow down and enjoy right now
Guarantee we'll be feeling alright

[Pre-chorus]

[Chorus]

[B.o.B]
Yeah yeah
Well, keep the price tag
And take the cash back
Just give me six strings and a half stack
And you can, can keep the cars
Leave me the garage
And all I, yes all I need
Are keys and guitars
And guess what, in 30 seconds
I'm leaving to Mars
Yeah we leaving across
These undefeatable odds
It's like this man
You can't put a price on a life
We do this for the love
So we fight and sacrifice
Every night
So we ain't gonna stumble and fall
Never
Waiting to see a sign of defeat
Uh uh
So we gonna keep everyone
Moving their feet
So bring back the beat
And then everyone sing

It's not about the money

[Chorus 2x]

[Jessie J ‒ Outro]
Yeah yeah
Oh-oh
Forget about the price tag

(Lyrics from azlyrics.com)

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A global music effort is underway by a diverse group of musicians and singers known as Playing For Change. Their videos, available on YouTube, are a wonderful collection of memorable songs played in very personal contributions from locations around the world.

The musicianship is outstanding, and the overall feeling is of shared truths and personal connection. Watching videos such as Redemption Song and Stand by Me made me feel connected and a part of the joy that music and community brings.

The amazing slide guitar work of Roberto Luti and olde tyme stylings of Grandpa Elliott are just a small slice of this delightful collection.

Redemption Song was the first music video I listened to by Playing For Change. I was struck by the careful and elegant combining of each musician, and by the words of Bob Marley's song.

The powerful lyrics can speak to almost everyone in North America and Europe, where instead of a slavery theme, the words can speak to a loss of minds and time to the wheels of commerce.

What will we forward to our next generation? Will it be a further focus on wealth and material goods? Will it be the joys of community, music and shared good works?  How will we redeem our generation and make the world better for the next?

Redemption Song lyrics

Old pirates, yes, they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the almighty
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs
Redemption songs
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look? Ooh
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fullfil the book
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs
Redemption songs
Redemption songs
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our mind
Woh, have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fullfill the book
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever had
Redemption songs
All I ever had
Redemption songs
These songs of freedom
Songs of freedom

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There is a growing and excellent trend moving through our society: honoring our friends and family with special gifts for their birthday and on holidays. While there are still times when people need a new iPod, TV, or other gizmo, a lot of people already have a lot of things, and enjoy going out themselves and buying the particular model they want.

And while there are no shortages of sweet things and entertaining things we can buy for people we love, there is also no shortage of people in our world who really need our help, be it clothes, food, shelter, medicine or a micro-loan to start up a business.

One of the first organizations to realize how great we feel when we help others is World Vision. Their catalog includes the things that poor and starving third-world people really need, including goats, ducks, medicine and mosquito nets. And while we and our friends are unlikely to want a goat for ourselves (they're a bit noisy and tend to eat clothing while riding the elevator) I guarantee two things:

1) There are definitely people in the world who would love to own a goat, so that they can have milk for their family.

2) When you give your friend a print-out about a family that is thrilled to have that goat (and maybe suggest that goat might be named after them) they are going to laugh and appreciate what a cool and generous thing the two of you have done for our world – turning our good fortune and celebration into something important that we can share.

And since giving a goat to someone is a good idea, organizations like World Vision have already figured out who needs the goats. You don't have to wander around, asking people if they'd like a goat or a chicken — you just pay for the animal or medicine or shelter, and let them figure out how to get it to the right person.

You can find all sorts of alternative gift ideas
by searching the web for:

alternative gifts

Here are just a few of the many ways to give
alternative gifts:

Alternative Gifts International

Doctors Without Borders

Provide clean water

Plant a tree and encourage others

Mercy Corps: Gifts that change lives

Make a micro-loan to help someone start a business

World Vision: give a goat

Mission Services: A local Community-focused relief organization

The Salvation Army – helping the homeless

Adopt some wildlife

When it's time to honor a friend or family member this year, honor them with a gift you'll both remember and be proud of.

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One of the main characteristics of our North American society is its focus on money and entertainment. Everywhere we look there are opportunities and offers of services, goods to buy, and recreation. Advertising blitzes us continuously, mostly portraying smiling, beautiful people sharing a good time and taking possession of something they really want. And if smiling, beautiful people can't sell us something then the marketing machine uses fear to convince us that we are missing out on something important or we're at risk. Either way, we have a society encouraged to want things, and to never be satisfied.

In advertising parlance, it's called "manufacturing desire" — making people want the next cool or interesting or "better" thing.  If someone else has it then we want it.

We have a society encouraged to covet. For those of you wondering where that fits into the traditional Christian play book, that is commandment #10. It's the last commandment on the list, perhaps because 3,000 years ago moral standards were different or there was less opportunity to break this commandment. But there it is, on the list.

In the old days people used the phrase "Keeping up with the Joneses". It was seen as a negative thing — a prideful, wasteful thing — to be competing with your neighbor, trying to have the better barbeque or the better car, when you already had something plenty good enough.

Nowadays, keeping up with the Joneses is our assumed way of life, with even kids feeling the pressure to own the "right" jeans or shoes or cell phone.  And for adults, the very personal and destructive coveting of someone else's life partner, aka adultery, continues to be on the rise. If someone else has it then it's okay that we want it, and why shouldn't we get it if we can? (Answer? #10)

Coveting things is entrenched in our way of life. Our manufacturing and entertainment systems depend on it. Even our governments depend on people wanting more, and use people's dissatisfaction against them — running lotteries, betting tracks and casinos to help pull in tax dollars.

So you won't hear the word "covet" spoken these days, even though it's what people are doing. Step by step, marketing pressures have convinced us that it's okay to covet. It's just "good business". And a bit of fun.

Not only does the word "covet" sound old-fashioned, it sounds anti-social to suggest that's what we're being encouraged to do.

The negative side effects of our constant coveting are many and diverse. By focusing mostly on acquiring things we have to work longer and harder to make more money. When we rest we don't pause and enjoy nature — we watch TV and get further promptings to buy things. We accumulate stuff and no longer think about repairing things — we throw stuff away and get a new one. We get something new and soon learn about a newer, better version. We are overworked and unsatisfied with what we already have (which is usually a lot). Our work environments and even our friendships can be challenged by our constant desire for more.

Fortunately, we live in an era where the flash of the new is being questioned by those wanting better use of our global resources and by those who think that a better life may have elements of a simpler life.

The solutions to coveting are to:

- Show restraint (by saying "No, thanks" or "I really don't need that.")
- Recognize how advertising tries to manipulate you ("See that ad? They're showing cool people loving that new phone.")
- Clarify your personal goals ("What do I really want in life?")
- Enjoy and explore the things you already have and the relationships in your life.
- Be happy for others (without wanting what they have), and
- Live within your means (because less stuff means fewer bills and more time to relax and pursue your passions).

In an era of "retro", I encourage you to step back from the spinning wheel of much-ness, and to rediscover the common sense of commandment #10, and the freedom, focus and personal satisfaction that it brings.

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Perhaps the most apparent feature of our society is our use of technology. Whether it is cell phones, high def TV, MRI scanners or air bags, technology surrounds us and is embedded into our lives. Everywhere you go you see people using devices — if there's a gizmo then people are using it.

There is, of course, money to be made creating and using technology, and jobs and benefits for many people.

There are busy and industrious people inventing devices, refining them, and bringing them to market. There are legions of truckers and sales people providing them to us, and people helping us figure out how to use our many gadgets and tools.

At the back-end, there is a service and support industry, and at the tail-end there are recyclers, dust bins, and growing piles in the corners of our basements and drawers.

It would be easy to imagine that our technology has a life of its own — being born, growing, fitting in, working with others, having occasional health problems, and finding that people don't call on them as often as they'd like.

Technology is vital to many aspects of every day, and we have threaded it deeply through our lives.

But at its core, our use of technology is about more than money and far more than our own individual use of gadgets.

Technology is about life and community. Our tools are the extra means we use to keep us safe, healthy, and together. Our tools are the means for sharing our lives and reducing the distances and risks. Our tools are how we, as family and friends, get to expand our reach beyond our fingertips and to widen our personal and shared horizons.

The purpose of technology is community.

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Our world depends on a lot of people getting things done. We all have our roles and our tasks, and every day has more than enough to do.

And swirling through our days are people. Some of them we see every day, like those we work with. Some people we only see for a minute, like those who help us in checkout lines or at a restaurant. Some we walk by and never share a word with.

But all of the people in our days are, in fact, real and caring people. And all of them, in some way, are sharing their lives with you.

We cannot know every person, or spend all of our days thanking each other.

But we can appreciate people, and let them know.

Showing appreciation usually starts with a smile or a greeting — letting the other person know we see them — and ends with thanking them.

What happens after that comes naturally. When people feel appreciated they are encouraged and they feel welcome. Their eyes sparkle a bit more, and they can handle tough moments a little more easily. They try hard and the work day goes more easily. They feel they are part of a special team — a loosely knit community of people who recognize the efforts of those around us, and who acknowledge that personally.

You like it when other people appreciate your efforts. Share the joy. Thank someone — many someones — every day.

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Taylor Swift is a talented and insightful musician

In a recent song by Taylor Swift, a young woman laments that her guy-friend cannot see that she would make a great girlfriend.

The song, titled “You Belong with Me“, is beautifully written, with a simple, down home beginning and a strong, soaring finale.

Listening to the song it is easy to ask, “Why is this guy so blind to what is right in front of him?”

As the singer narrates, the young man is attracted — as our society encourages — to a different woman, a fancier woman, who wears short skirts and high heels. The downside? His current girlfriend doesn’t get his sense of humor, like his music, or have a clue what his story really is.

Is this situation a surprise to anyone?

In an age where fashion and entertainment are key elements of society, many people fall prey to the Emperor’s new clothes. Both men and women are besieged with images of glamor and persistent promises of happiness through ownership and how we look. We are told, repeatedly and every day, what’s in right now and what to buy to be cool.

But as most people learn, pursuing what is cool is an endlessly moving target — achieved for brief shiny moments — and driven largely by companies intent on slimming our wallets as they sculpt our look.  Fashion can be fun, but it can mask who we really are, and keep us from what might really make us happy.

In Taylor’s song, the young woman wishes her friend would see how she is a better match for him, but she does not directly tell him.  She is exasperated by his failure to see her true heart and value, but is either too shy or too proud to tell him.

This is an unfortunate side-effect of a culture encouraged to surpass and achieve more — where honesty and humility are valued, but less than we deserve.

[Note: In the music video for the song, the song's two characters do communicate better, passing "text" messages by writing on pads of paper.]

“You Belong with Me” is a wake-up call about valuing the people in our lives, and a reminder for all of us — to know and show our own hearts — to let our real self show through the fashion and possessions.

If every last shred of designer-wear were to disappear from Earth, we might look a little less fancy, but we would more clearly know and show ourselves.

It is the heart of each person that we need to recognize and care about.

Know your heart. Show your heart.

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