how we party

Hoisting the heavy box higher in my grip, I backed through the door and turned around beneath the awning. The light of the building across the sidewalk caught my attention, and I heard the sound of conversation and laughter coming through the panes of its windows. "Looks like something fun is going on in the Fireside Room," I thought to myself. Then I laughed at myself. The Fireside Room is where I had just come from, but in the time it had taken to carry my stuff to the exit on this side of the sidewalk, that must have slipped my mind. It was definitely time for bed.

Last night was the Social Justice Chapter Christmas Extravaganza. Social justicians are really good party planners. We have to be, otherwise we'd get bogged down in the poverty, the hunger, the slavery, the war, the exploitation… Yes. A lot of bad things happen in this world, but we do not need to sit around pouting or escape into a world of superficial happiness. When the Social Justice Chapter has a party, we don't pour ashes over our heads and cry in sorrow (though there is a time for that) and we don't pour beer down our throats and laugh in denial (there's never a time for that).

This is what we do: We set out fair trade coffee for students to buy and fair trade gifts that give students an opportunity to tell their families about fair trade. We wait until the party is starting to light the fireplace, so as not to waste petroleum. We ponder ways that we could use less disposable products next time we serve food. We wear Christmas garb found at the thrift store. We sing Christmas carols of God's redemptive work and our desire for for the coming of Immanuel to ransom this world from captivity. We listen to the song a student wrote in response to watching the Invisible Children film. We rest our heads on comfy sofas, our ears on honest music, and our hearts in Christian friendship.

That is how the Social Justice Chapter parties.