Pushing Back on Materialism 1

Since the Christmas season is a chance for our materialistic bent to shine, this week I’m suggesting strategies for leading your kids out of these dangerous and disobedient attitudes. Out of sight, out of mind might be the cliché that best describes my own personal history of ignorance to anyone’s material needs but my own. During my childhood, poverty was something that flashed outside my car window as my family ventured from our comfortable and cloistered enclave in the suburbs on trips through inner-city Philadelphia. The slums were never our destination. They were simply a dangerous place to pass through quickly on a direct route somewhere else. The only emotion I ever felt was the relief that came with getting out of there. Helping the kids you know and love break free from such ignorance and cultural captivity can begin as you take deliberate steps to open their eyes to the world’s need through books, the internet, and personal visits.