Christmas Day Service

Are we somehow less spiritual or Christian because of it?

That may be the issue then. What we do isn't a tradition any more than not having weekly services on a Tuesday isn't a tradition. So there really is no compare and contrast here.

I'd think since we'll be spending the majority of our time praising God in heaven, it only makes sense that we do so down here out of joy, but also out of preparing ourselves for His Kingdom.

We have a Christmas evening Vespers type service, and a morning liturgy on Christmas Day. Thanks for this reminder, Boswd, as my family has never gone to the Christmas Day service, I'm ashamed to say, and I think we should make the effort this year and the following years to go. We are missing out, I'm sure, on a beautiful worshipping service with our community.

I hope you do make it to the liturgy on Christmas day. It is a beautiful service. I am still hoping I will get to go on Christmas day and won't have to work. I am looking forward to the Vespers the night before as well. I love the hymns of that service. Also, in our parish, after the liturgy on Christmas, we break the fast together. Matushka usually takes coffee hour and makes Christmas cookies, and has a lot of sausage and cheese (as well as other meat and dairy snack foods).

I realise that you celebrate it on another day, but I left that tacit because your post I responded to left it tacit.

You said:
"But if my local congregation chooses not to, that should be fine as well."

I responded:
"It is fine - if you don't want to then you shouldn't - but that doesn't help me understand why you wouldn't want to."

Clearly the unstated thing in my post is the same as the unstated thing that your post refers to you choosing not to do - ie celebrating as a community on December 25th.

So, what I'm trying to figure out is why you choose not to do that - the thing you've said you choose not to do: celebrate as a community on Christmas day.

Your response:
"For us, we don't see the necessity of having another service."
Doesn't help because necessity has got absolutely nothing to do with it. None of us see it as necessary but being Christian isn't about doing the necessary minimum. My position isn't "why don't you see it as necessary" but "I cannot figure out why a Christian would not choose to do it because they actively want to do it". None of us do it because it is necessary, but boil the Christian faith down to what is necessary and you've boiled the baby away with the bathwater.


Please remember what "it" is in the above, because spelling it out every time shouldn't be necessary.

Why is everybody talking about how they observe a pagan holiday as if it was sanctioned by God. It wasn't. In fact God says He hates that kind of worship. Knowing this it seems strange that people would do that claiming to do it in His name. Strange indeed!