Brew Monday
The Samaritans event, Brew Monday, is on 16 January 2023
by Claire Law
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To reflect on the importance of connecting with others.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Brew Monday) and the means to display them.
- You will need a pre-arranged student to read the Bible passage Luke 10.38–42 during the ‘Time for reflection’ part of the assembly.
Assembly
- Show Slide 1 and welcome the students to the assembly.
I wonder what sort of a January you are having. If we use a scale of zero to ten, where zero equals terrible and ten equals amazing, what score would you give to your January so far? - Invite the students to hold up their fingers to indicate their score. Look round the room and comment that many people report finding January a tough month. It can be cold and wet, and the days are short, with gloomy afternoons and long, dark evenings. At the moment, lots of people are worried about the cost of living and paying the bills, especially because December, with its Christmas celebrations, can be expensive. There’s no half-term in January either, so it can feel like a bit of a slog.
- Around 20 years ago, a savvy holiday company recognized that people are more likely to spend money on foreign holidays to cheer them up when they feel low. They created a marketing campaign that identified the third Monday of January as the most depressing day of the year. They labelled the day ‘Blue Monday’ and this year, it falls on 16 January.
- Although many of us can find ourselves feeling down in January, it’s good to remember that Blue Monday was devised as a marketing strategy. In other words, regarding the third Monday in January as the most difficult day of the year is a bit of a myth. There’s no such thing as Blue Monday: we all have our good days and our bad days, and those aren’t for the calendar to decide.
- With this in mind, the concept of Blue Monday sparked another campaign: Brew Monday!
Show Slide 2.
The charity Samaritans came up with the idea of Brew Monday to promote the power of chat and connection rather than continuing the myth that feeling blue should cause you to purchase a holiday.
Samaritans provides a telephone helpline that is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The charity recognizes the importance of talking and listening, and provides trained listeners who can help people who are struggling with their mental health. - The Brew Monday campaign encourages people to connect with others and chat with family, friends, colleagues and loved ones while sharing a cuppa. Depending on where we live, we might refer to a hot drink as a brew.
However, whether we choose tea, coffee or water, the beverage is not the crucial ingredient. Nor does it matter if it’s a Monday morning or a Saturday night. Simply taking time to connect and chat is the message of the Brew Monday campaign. - Show Slide 3.
We know that isolation and loneliness are barriers to feeling good about life and about ourselves. Samaritans is challenging the Blue Monday message and encouraging us to take steps to promote our well-being by chatting and connecting. As a means of cheering ourselves up, having a cuppa and a chat is a lot cheaper and quicker than taking a foreign holiday! - Let’s reflect now on the importance of chatting and connecting with others, whether we do it with food and drink or without.
Many cultures have a long tradition of sharing food and drink to build, cement and deepen relationships. In this way, a meal or a drink shared with others is not just about consuming energy and fluids; it is also about connecting with people. Spending time over a shared meal can feed the spirit and the soul, as well as the stomach. - The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle famously said, ‘To be a friend to someone, you must eat a sack of salt together.’ Of course, he didn’t mean that if you eat lots of salt with someone, you will be friends. Rather, he was suggesting that a friendship can develop over the course of many meals, with a pinch of salt here and a pinch of salt there for flavouring. Aristotle came from a culture where spending leisurely time with others, often while sharing food and drink, was a way to live well.
- The Bible also recognizes the importance of taking time to share conversation in a leisurely way. The New Testament tells us of many occasions when Jesus spent time chatting, often sharing food at the same time, while others listened, laughed, talked and enjoyed the company of others.
One of these occasions was after Jesus had risen from the dead. His disciples, feeling uncertain and confused by the events of the crucifixion, were keeping busy and doing what they knew best: fishing. In John’s Gospel, we read how the risen Jesus appeared to them and prepared a beach barbecue so that they could cook and share some of the fish that they’d caught. The passage goes on to tell us how Jesus and Simon Peter chatted deeply as they finished the shared meal.
Time for reflection
In another passage, this time recorded in Luke’s Gospel, we read about Jesus spending time in the home of his friends: sisters Martha and Mary. While Martha is busy making preparations that may have included cooking a meal for them to share, Mary sits and chats to Jesus. When Martha complains, Jesus makes it clear that chatting and being together are more important than busying ourselves with preparations. Let’s hear from that passage now.
Ask the pre-arranged student to read Luke 10.38–42.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’
‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’
I wonder what a modern version of this might look like. Imagine Jesus ringing the doorbell, and Martha getting busy, saying ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’ Martha is faffing about in the kitchen, looking for a teapot and cups, and trying to locate the sugar. She’s searching high and low for the milk jug, and panicking that they have nearly run out of milk. While Martha is doing all this, Mary is sitting and chatting with Jesus. She spends time with Jesus, listening and sharing conversation. In this passage, when we read about Jesus saying ‘few things are needed - or indeed only one’, I imagine modern-day Jesus saying to Martha, ‘It’s not really about the brew. It’s you that I want to spend time with. The cuppa is nice, but it’s not essential.’
Let’s think about the following questions.
- Who in your life is it important that you spend time with, whether that’s with or without a brew?
Pause to allow time for thought.
- Who do you imagine would benefit from a chat?
Pause to allow time for thought.
- Who do you want to share time with?
Pause to allow time for thought.
- How do you want to go about reaching out to connect with others this January?
Pause to allow time for thought.
Optional: we too can take the place of Mary by sitting and chatting to Jesus in prayer. Is there anything that you want to say to Jesus in prayer?
Pause to allow time for thought.
Prayer
Dear God,
We can feel blue whatever the time of year.
We know that connecting with others can help us to feel good about life and about ourselves.
We ask you to help us find ways to take time to chat and connect this January.
Help us to connect with other people who are good for us to chat to and spend time with.
Help us to make space to connect with you too, Lord, in prayer.
We ask you to help us feel the benefits of chat and connection.
Amen.
