It's coming - keep your hair on!

You'll probably have noticed that the Christmas juggernaut is swinging into gear once again. It was brought to my attention most clearly, and humourously, the other day when I went past All Souls Leichhardt. The church's notice board read:

"Come to church now - avoid the Christmas rush."

Another sign of the times (or the season at any rate) arrived in the post yesterday. It was [Arguably] The World's Most Useful Gift Catalogue. And seeing The Shadow has entered the world of plugging, it's a good thing to plug.

For thirteen years now TEAR has produced the catalogue which enables you to purchase gifts that will benefit those who are in need, while showing love and goodwill to friends or family.

The logic behind it is that we are quite comfortable and have more than we need yet at Christmas time we so often find ourselves tearing out prescious hair in pursuit of that perfect gift. To avoid the frustration, and the unsightly bald patches, the catalogue allows you to put money towards Eye Care ($5), a toilet ($70), a school building ($2000) and a whole heap of other useful things for people in developing countries. In return you receive a gift card that you can give to a loved one that tells them what you have purchased, "thinking of them."

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of God's son let's stand up for justice and hope and look forward to His return when justice, beyond our normal use of the term, will be complete and hope will no longer be needed.

And as the TEAR magazine says - a useful gift sure is better than a singing salmon!

No points - but plenty of kudos - to whoever identifies the pun in this post and/or the type of fish that is pictured above (it's not a salmon).