“All you can take with you is what you have given away”-George Bailey (It’s a Wonderful Life)
The Christmas season has always been a time for one to help their fellow person. Americans are statistically the most generous people on earth year-round but over 34 percent of those donations happen between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, annually. A charitable organizations and other philanthropies use Kairos during this time of year to steadily increase their proceeds. By evoking the traditions of our holiday season, many wonderful organizations such as Toys for Tots, Operation Christmas Child, Heifer International, the Salvation Army, and Food Banks across the nation are able to use the general feeling of goodwill to try the best and better our world.
This is effective because the three major holidays of the “Holiday Season”(Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas) are all steeped in the tradition of giving. Thanksgiving is a holiday where one reflects on their own good fortune and wishes the same on their neighbors. Many of you have probably saw the fliers on your door in the weeks prior to thanksgiving to donate to your local food bank for “Scouting for food.” As an Eagle Scout, I have participated in this effort for years and I am always surprised to see how much food people donate. Similarly, for Hanukkah, a holiday about discovering light in darkness, many Jewish families donate to a different charity each of the eight nights. Most significant of all, Christmas is steeped in the traditions of generosity from the teachings of Jesus to the stories of Charles Dickens.
All of this provides a climate in which charitable giving is far more common than other times of the year. By evoking the meaning of these holidays, the organizations remind us why we celebrate. If they had tried similar add campaigns for the 4th of July or Halloween, those campaigns would fail but in the context of the “Holiday Season,” charitable organizations are able to produce do good work from their use of Kairos. As people, it is natural to assume that any sort of persuasive arguments has bad intentions, but we should remember that not everyone is trying to sell us overpriced insurance. By using Kairos, these organizations are able to feed the hungry, give toys to children who otherwise would have none, and provide a sense of joy and purpose to millions around the world.
Your evaluation of this topic is intriguing. I like how you call attention to the idea that this season seems to cause unity and charity among all people.
I think its interesting to see something like giving to charity as fulfilling an opportunity, and how the seasons give us these opportunities to give back.
I like how you equated kairos to promoting people to perform their civic duty: giving to those in need and lending a helping hand. Well written.
I think there are so many examples of Kairos where someone is try take advantage of another person to do something. But your example shows the beauty of Kairos and how it can be used to influnce other people to do good in the world.
I think today Kairos is often used to take advantage of another person but your example shows the benefits of kairos and how it can do good for other people.