Christmas countdown day 14: It's a Wonderful Life

It really is a wonderful life.

Jon Kuhrt

Jon Kuhrt is CEO of Hope into Action, a homelessness charity. He is a former government adviser on how faith groups address rough sleeping.

A man stands one side of a bank counter while others, on the other side, look hopefully at him.

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The Christmas Countdown

It’s the season to be jolly, stressed, and all round Christmassy. On the Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast, we’re here for you with our Aloud Christmas Countdown!

Every day in December, we’ll drop some of the best seasonal content from Seen & Unseen Aloud. From how to survive Christmas, reviews of the best Christmas movies and the origin story of Santa Claus.

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Article

Christmas culture

Creed

Generosity

16 December 2024

1 min read

Giving is good for everyone . . . and not just at Christmas

A guest opinion for the Financial Times.

Graham Tomlin

Graham is the Director of the Centre for Cultural Witness and a former Bishop of Kensington.

Christmas presents wrapped with red and white paper and string.

Freestocks on Unsplash.

Giving gifts sustains our communal life together. It keeps things in circulation, as they were meant to be. Taxation does that in a more systematic way, but gift giving is voluntary, engages our hearts, and creates a relationship between the giver and the recipient.

Read the full article on the Financial Times web site.

Registration is required and users can read four free articles a month.

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Join with us - Behind the Seen

Seen & Unseen is free for everyone and is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters.

If you’re enjoying Seen & Unseen, would you consider making a gift towards our work?

Alongside other benefits (book discounts etc.), you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing what I’m reading and my reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.

Graham Tomlin

Editor-in-Chief

Find out more and sign up