"We Gotta Pray" and the meaning of Christmas

Alicia Keys is right. “We gotta pray.”

Keys released We Gotta Pray after a Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict a white New York police officer for the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died in a stranglehold. The Staten Island decision was the second decision in a matter of weeks that sparked protests and raised questions about racism, law enforcement and the administration of justice in the United States.  Keys tweeted that she had written the lyrics sometime ago, but “the lyrics have never meant more to me than during this time.”

While fans posted favorable comments on music sites, We Gotta Pray received a mixed reaction on YouTube, where more than a few intolerant and racist comments appeared. These comments, ironically, expose the need for artistic expressions, like this one, that capture both the failure and success of humanity to rise above its ignorance and hardness of heart.

We Gotta Pray conveys a message about change

The video version of We Gotta Pray conveys a powerful message about systemic injustice around the world in modern times. The video maintains a hopeful tone through images that depict prayer and peaceful protest. The inclusion of archival photographs of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Gandhi remind viewers that change is possible. Taken together, the lyrics and the video communicate the message that all individuals have an extraordinary capacity to become agents for change, a change that begins in the heart with the transformation of one’s attitudes and behaviors.

The video references two quotations that drive this message home. A quotation from Gandhi emphasizes forgiveness, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” Another, from Martin Luther King Jr., speaks of loving your enemy as a pathway to peace, “Non violence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him”. 

To carry the spirit of Christmas forward, we gotta pray for a change of heart

The message of We Gotta Pray is a good reminder of the ‘reason for the season’ that we are preparing to celebrate. During the Christmas season, goodwill, random acts of kindness and messages of  “Joy to the world” and “Peace on earth” abound for at least a few days.  But, in order to carry the spirit of Christmas forward into the world as a force for transformation, “we gotta pray” for that change of heart if we want “to get ourselves back to the garden”, to quote from another protest song. 

While the lessons of human history teach us that there is no easy way back, no quick fix to repair the brokenness of human relationships, a visit to a stable where a babe is laying in a manger may help to soften our hearts.

Nativity: Gustave Dore

At the stable we discover our potential for goodness

In the Christmas story as retold in the Gospel of Luke, angels link the birth of this baby to peace on earth and among people. Papal preacher, Father Raniero Cantalamessa reflected on the relationship between Christmas and peace in a recent Advent homily.  The coming of Jesus ushers in a new age for humanity and teaches us “the first peace is the vertical, between heaven and earth, between God and humanity. From it depend all other forms of peace.”  This peace comes not only from the subsequent death of Jesus on the cross, said Cantalamessa, but also from the gift of grace that came into the world with his birth.

In the manger where a tiny, perfect, yet utterly helpless babe lays, we recognize that we too are vulnerable, and that we hold within our self a tremendous potential for goodness. Through the diversity of the group gathered around the manger - in the baby’s Jewish parents, in the poor shepherds, and in the rich magi of the East who come from a different religious tradition - we experience equality and mutual respect.  We gain insight into the way of peace as we discover the graciousness of God who welcomes and honors us without distinction based on race, religion or socio-economic status.

Grace and peace are the gifts waiting for us at the stable. These are the gifts that lead us to a conversion of the heart and that can guide us back to the garden.  But, we gotta pray.

Charity at Christmas has a long history

Spend, spend, spend!

Since the middle of November, my inbox has been cluttered with emails designed to entice me to spend, and despite repeatedly hitting ‘delete’, the pressure from retailers to shop, either online or in person, has been relentless.  Retailers’ claimed that Cyber Monday was my last chance to save before Christmas, and then continued to bombard me with sales. Soon, those same retailers will begin emailing me with their pre-Boxing Day and then Boxing Day sales pitches.  They must not be subject to the same anti-spam laws as not-for-profits because on Giving Tuesday, only one charity emailed me.

Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday began in 2012 as a response to the consumerism that follows American Thanksgiving and has spread to Canada and across the Atlantic. According to the Giving Tuesday website, it is a “global day dedicated to giving back”, and everyone can take part, “Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving.”

Gift giving from the first Christmas and beyond

There is really nothing new about practicing charity in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  The idea goes back millennia, and may have had its origins with the magi who gave gifts to the baby Jesus.  The magi believed that they were in the presence of a king, despite the unassuming and humble circumstances of the baby’s family and home. The men honored the little, but relatively poor, prince with the giving of expensive gifts.

Fast forward to the 10^th century in medieval Europe. As the Duke of Bohemia, more famously known as Good King Wenceslas, was surveying his lands on the day after Christmas, he encountered an improvished peasant. Moved with pity, the duke returned to his estate, got the leftovers from his Christmas feast, and trudged through a storm to deliver food and drink to the peasant. While the story may be more legend than fact, Wenceslas did have a reputation for generosity and almsgiving.  Some historians think that Boxing Day, which was traditionally a day for charity, originated with Wenceslas.

Boxing Day was originally a day for charitable giving

There are two traditions from English history worth mentioning in the context of Christmas charity. They, too, are associated with Boxing Day, which overtime morphed into a consumer holiday and has little, if anything, to do with charitable giving.

In the Middle Ages during the liturgical season of Advent, the Church of England placed boxes in its churches to collect offerings for the poor. On the Feast of Saint Stephen, December 26, the boxes were opened and the monies were distributed to the poor. This was the day that the poor received the bulk of charity for the year. December 26 was also the day that the British aristocracy gave gifts, in boxes, to their servants.

Charity as a means of healing spiritual and social poverty

In the Victorian classic, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens exposed the selfish greed of the affluent who ignored the poor at Christmas. Through the transformation of Scrooge from a bitter, greedy miser to a warm-hearted philanthropist, Dickens imprinted on our collective imagination the role of charity in healing spiritual poverty, as well as alleviating the ills of physical poverty.

"Ignorance and Want"
Scrooge meets the social consequences of his greed
Woodcut by John Leech 1843

Today, ethical giving at Christmas time is gaining in popularity as baby boomers and seniors come to the realization that they have more stuff than they want or need. Ethical giving involves buying a gift through a non-governmental organization for an individual, family, community or project in the global south. Popular gifts include things such as seeds, farm animals, birthing kits and mosquito nets.

Those who prefer the traditional gift exchange with family and friends, but still want to shop altruistically, often purchase items produced in artisan or farming cooperatives in the global south.  Gift options range from fair trade coffee to high-end items like quality hand made leather boots or bags.

Charity at Christmas is a long established tradition. While I am unconvinced that we need a specific day dedicated to giving, Giving Tuesday can serve as a reminder that the Christmas season is not just about shopping for the best deals; it is also about recognizing and honoring the princely dignity that resides within every individual.