The meaning of Christmas...

[RJDiogenes]

For everybody on my gift list except my niece and nephew and mother, I donate money to Save The Children. There's Christmas for ya!

[J. Allen]

Great post, Warped9. I agree with you in both situations you presented.

As for me, Christmas means to freely give to one another, whether it be love, commitment, or earrings.

J.

[The Borg Queen]

It's all about the Winter Solstice.

[Gryffindorian]

As discussed in the other thread, many Christians, non-Christians, and non-religious people alike celebrate Christmas and say "Merry Christmas." I work with people of different national backgrounds, ethnicities, and faiths, and many of them exchange presents, listen to Christmas music, and greet people "Merry Christmas" during the holidays.

I think what pisses off a lot of religious people (apart from the commercialism) is the attempt at "secularization" of Christmas, mostly by the opponents on the other side, as I mentioned in the other thread, the uber-PC. The uber-PC say things like "Christmas is so ... Christian. Why can't we call it something else or celebrate something else?" One cannot deny the fact that Christmas was initially conceived by the Church as a religious holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, so what is really being celebrated on December 25? Christians have as much right to observe it in a religious way as much as the Jews celebrate Hanukkah or Africans celebrate Kwanzaa. On the other hand, Christmas is an amalgation of both Christian and pagan rituals and traditions, so I can see why it's got such a universal appeal and some non-Christians prefer to celebrate it as well.

[CaptainStoner]

The Bionic Zombie Queen wrote:

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It's all about the Winter Solstice.

And the Holly King. Mistletoe. Decorated trees. The renewal of life and hope for humanity on the longest night of the year. The ancient myth of the virgin birth of a God.
A night for the Universal. That Christians grafted on to it is perfectly natural. I used to find it annoying and hypocritical, but Spirit is Spirit.
And midnight Mass is still kind of cool. It's as pagan as hell, gotta love it.
I honestly can't think of any aspect of Christmas that is uniquely Christian. But that only deepens its meaning to me.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Sheliak wrote:

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is a Mystery.

Really? Hmmm... Celebrating the birth of Christ, my Savior. Okay, I got it.

Doesn't seem very mysterious to me.

[Michael Chris]

Sure it's taken over other holidays, but Christmas is about Christ. His birth, His life, our hope. Just like Easter is about a goddess, and the Day of the Resurrection is about Christ's triumph over death. Just like Halloween is about the day before the day about saints, and Samhain is about the new year.

[Neroon]

Babaganoosh wrote:

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Really? Hmmm... Celebrating the birth of Christ, my Savior. Okay, I got it.

Doesn't seem very mysterious to me.

"Wondrous is man, and mysterious the ways of God"......

[ria 75]

To me Christmas is a remedy to the winter solstice and its darkness. It IS originally the pagan celebration of the winter solstice. The birth of Christ (possibly Jan 6 as celebrated in spain) was moved to absorb that holiday.

Christmas is a welcome break in midwinter, with lots of light. I like the Indian concept: Diwali, festival of lights. In the Himalayas, and I suspect, other places in the world, the winter solstice is celebrated with parades of torch or candle bearers and bonfires. It's also the restart of the year. (I hope I didn't mix that up.) Using the lights and bonfires to lay waste to the bad things from the year past and start afresh.

Not being religious, to me personally, Christmas is a yearly opportunity for family gathering, with a special effort in the cooking department, as well as decoration and perhaps dressing. My mother picks holly and pine branches and leafy branches, and spray paints some of that golden, and makes green and golden and red Christmas wreaths adorned with some of the Christmas decorations that usually belong on a tree. (Although the tree tradition is coming back for the grandkids.) She makes hollowed-out clay candle holders herself, lays them out around the dining-room... etc.

Presents... are a chore. We don't need Christmas to exchange gifts. My dad's been on Christmas presents strike for a few years. (He hates weddings too.) He makes presents when he wants. At first I was for embarrassing him with presents (he gets them for Christmas all the same) but I kind of agree with him. His point is you buy something for a family member when you find it, and no need to wait until Christmas. Buying something whithout having an idea what, just to give a present, is a hassle and has less chances to be liked. Although whatever we do, our presents more often reflect our own taste than the recipient's.

[Krieg1981]

My family and I celebrate Yul every year. Strange how similar "christmas" is to Yul, eh?