Christmas

[blackribbon]

I hate it. Not the birth of Christ but everything else.

 

[Servant68]

I love it.

 

[Grace2022]

I hate it. Not the birth of Christ but everything else.

Hi
I understand. I dislike the nonsense it has become. Santa Claus and all that rubbish.
But, it is our important time as Christians. I celebrate it as i see fit. This means church in the morning and the various beautiful services in the weeks before. I shall go to Christingle, Nine Lessons, carol services and advent service at our local church and cathedral. With my lovely fellow believers.
Otherwise the spirit of love, goodwill and joy is wonderful. Good food, happy get togethers with family and friends. I like lights and decorations. Giving thoughtful gifts and very important, sending cards to every single person i can think of. Especially the old lonely ones.
Thete is huge capacity to spread joy at this time whilst keeping costs sensible. I dislike the commercial aspects. People sadly impoverish themselves. I keep presents simple and thoughtful not expensive.
Above all, it marks the birth of the Light of the World, what could be more incredible?

 

[blackribbon]

Hi
I understand. I dislike the nonsense it has become. Santa Claus and all that rubbish.
But, it is our important time as Christians. I celebrate it as i see fit. This means church in the morning and the various beautiful services in the weeks before. I shall go to Christingle, Nine Lessons, carol services and advent service at our local church and cathedral. With my lovely fellow believers.
Otherwise the spirit of love, goodwill and joy is wonderful. Good food, happy get togethers with family and friends. I like lights and decorations. Giving thoughtful gifts and very important, sending cards to every single person i can think of. Especially the old lonely ones.
Thete is huge capacity to spread joy at this time whilst keeping costs sensible. I dislike the commercial aspects. People sadly impoverish themselves. I keep presents simple and thoughtful not expensive.
Above all, it marks the birth of the Light of the World, what could be more incredible?

I have less time to spread joy...too many obligations related to Christmas.

 

[dayhiker]

I am terrible at being able to figure out what gift to give people. So I hate that part.
I enjoy time with people. I love the lights I see as I drive around.

So I guess like most, its a mixed bag.

 

[com7fy8]

We can enjoy loving the people.

When Jesus was born, people of Satan's kingdom handled His birth the wrong way. They still do. But always we can do what God has us doing about the birth of Jesus . . . every day

Be careful about who is getting our attention and then how we are being effected.

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

"Test all things; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

Test each thing for how God is able to use it for His good intention

 

[blackribbon]

We should be enjoy loving people all year round, not just at Christmas.

 

[exitstageright]

We should be enjoy loving people all year round, not just at Christmas.

We should. But,we do not live in an ideal world. Until Jesus comes back,this fallen world will never be perfect. So,why should anyone ever strive for perfection?
Actually,the day,celebrated for the birth of Christ,is actually a celebration of the Winter Solstice ,a pagan holiday.Christians decided to celebrate on the Winter Solstice,as not to be persecuted for celebrating Christ's birth.

 

[exitstageright]

I hate it. Not the birth of Christ but everything else.

The best thing that I like about Christmas celebrations is the music. I just love music.And,Christmas music is my favorite type of music. Christmas music is so positive, and so joyful.

 

[NotUrAvgGuy]

I do nothing for Christmas or the season leading up to it. The traditions are lost on me. I celebrate the birth of Christ every day so having a special day is not that big for me. At times I wish the church would move our date to say April and totally remove it from the whole secular Christmas thing.

 

[dayhiker]

I can relate to that NotUrAvgguy

 

[Servant68]

My love for Christmas comes from my time as a child when my world in a small town in Idaho was a happy place full of dreams coming true and boundless optimism.
Sure, I was from a lower middle-class family and my mom raised me on her own until I was six, but I lived in a nearly crime-free and happy place surrounded by mountains and beauty.

Christmas time meant snow, which I love, and Christmas lights, which I love, and eggnog, and new toys, and a tree in the house, and...

Just so many positive things come with Christmas. People were noticeably happier and more cheerful around Christmas. However I have noticed that in the past decade or so, society has changed and people are now angrier around Christmas. They are more stressed and there are more strange crimes and suicides.

I firmly believe that America is spiraling downward at an incredible rate in terms of morality and spirituality. Liberals argue that just because everyone doesn't think homosexuality or killing babies is wrong, it doesn't mean that America is in decline. They point out decreased crime rates and increased quality of life.

But in my gut I just feel that something is really, really wrong with society and we are at the precipice of something truly awful.

But Christmas reminds of a world I used to know. Despite the extra stress, the memories of a once complete family now broken, the extra expenses, and the bitterness of society, I cling to what Christmas used to be. And it was magical.

 

[blackribbon]

As a child of the 70s, my dad chose that "he owed himself happiness" and decided happiness came through his secretary and not his family. I have vague memories of happy Christmases before he left us but the ones after that were mom always struggling and an incredible change in our lifestyles.

I went to watch a Christmas parade my daughter was in with her college softball team. I am glad i went. There was some happiness in that less than perfect parade (town is suffering from urban blight and struggling to come back). There was something innocent about a parade that simple and plain and watching the kids around me getting just as excited as if it was a Disney production itself. My daughter left after she was done walking in her teenage mutant ninja turtle costume (and giving kids high fives and candy)..but I stayed to listen to the marching bands and just people watch.

We also hung lights on our house for the first time in years. My 19 year old daughter couldn't have been more excited than if she was 5 year olds...all for 2 strings of snowflake lights and my Christmas star. It is sort of a changing of the guard since I couldn't climb the ladder this year because of my recent surgery. I expect next year my kids won't need me now they know how to do it.

I was talking to another woman and I think maybe part of the issue is that we have turned Christmas into "family" meaning huge obligations to extended family and that usually means no one is ever really happy. I am trying hard not to feel the anxiety related to my mom coming for Xmas and needing to please her expectations instead of focusing on what makes my own little family happy. I did arrange her visit to not overlap with New Years so my kids could go out with their friends that night before all their friends head back to their various colleges instead of being "guilted" into staying home. This is the first time in 3 years that I don't work on Christmas or New Years Eve and unless I change jobs, it won't be that way for another 3 years.

 

[JAM2b]

I grew up in a very large family on both of my parents' sides. Christmas was a huge ordeal every year. I saw relatives that I only saw on Christmas, or if someone got married or had a funeral, and was expected to love and respect them and be excited to see them, like we had some kind of relationship to base that on.

My family went to a lot of effort to make Christmas special and magical, and there was a lot of fun. However, the family obligations part was difficult.

When I got married, my ex was pulled between both of his parents' sides of the family, and I was pulled in the direction of my family. Every Christmas day we had four family gatherings to attend. It was a nightmare. We were exhausted and broke, and our kids were miserable. It was a whirlwind of activity and food and gifts. It did not bring joy.

When we began choosing between which gatherings we attended or to arrive late/leave early, there was a lot of backlash from family members.

After I divorced Christmas became very different. It was stressful for other reasons, but more relaxed as far as obligations. The last several have been tough because of major changes, but for the most part we are happier overall. This christmas will be different from usual, but I will have both of my boys home with me for the entire holiday for the first time in YEARS. I'm very happy about that. I don't have the tree up yet because we have been sick a lot. I plan to have it decorated in the next day or two.

 

[Lotuspetal_uk]

In recent years Christmas took on a whole new meaning for my little family. It still wells me up when I think of it.

In the same year I got married my ex was stationed in Kansas, so as newly weds I use to travel between semesters to be with him whereever he was. You can imagine what it was like being away from my family in the UK, being in a different country, not knowing anyone. I think I arrived a few days before Christmas Eve. I discovered that American non Catholics didn't have midnight mass, that the churches were quite different to back home and so I felt a little home sick. When it came to preparing for Christmas, I had brought over most of what I needed to create new Christmas memories with the new husband.

It was at this point that he stated that we were not going to celebrate Christmas..... like at all. No decorations, no Christmas dinner and he made it hard for me to fellowship with other believers. Nada.

He left me to weep from Christmas Eve right through to Boxing Day. I couldn't bare to talk to any of my family members back home, I was so upset. He ordered a chinese takeaway for Christmas dinner and I was forbidden to even eat a traditional Christmas pudding that I had brought over from the UK. Christmas was like that for me until we divorced whenever he was home. My daughter remembers those Christmasses (she was not allowed to receive presents from family members - we had to hide so much). When I was expecting MC my daughter on Christmas day rested her head on my lap in my bedroom and silently wept so her dad could not hear her.

In the first year that we were free, I spent every spare cash I had to get the biggest turkey, all the Christmas trimmings I could gather and I took time to decorate every single room in my house. Friends and family members, brothers and sisters in Christ brought over gifts which I hid from the kids until the night of Christmas Eve when I laid them out around our fireplace. I will never forget my daughter's face when she awoke and saw all the presents. Before opening the presents, my daughter grabbed my hands and excitedly said, "Lets thank God for the pressies". So holding hands I gave thanks to the Lord for His mercy and for this day which is so so precious to me. I thanked Him that once again I could freely celebrate the birth of His Son.

So we have a new tradition in the home now. In the morning when the kids see the presents, we stop and take a moment to give thanks to the Lord for the opportunity we have to acknowledge His saving grace . I think I will still probably decorate the house even when my two grow up and leave home just to remind me about how it was the Lord who strengthened me to get through that part of my life.

 

[blackribbon]

Was your ex culturally Jewish? Chinese on Christmas Eve is a Jewish American tradition...but they don't call it celebrating Christmas (I'd say having a tradition sort of does make it a secular Christmas tradition).

 

[Lotuspetal_uk]

Was your ex culturally Jewish? Chinese on Christmas Eve is a Jewish American tradition...but they don't call it celebrating Christmas (I'd say having a tradition sort of does make it a secular Christmas tradition).

My ex is an Muslim convert, unfortunately.