It`s that time of year again, Christmas is only a few weeks way and already the christian world is going nuts.
I hate Christmas with a passion and think it should be banned along with Easter.
The so called season of goodwill to all men yet we have people dying in Afghanistan for no good reason but to make the politicians look good.
I served 23yrs in the british Army and did duty every Christmas day, mainly because the married got the time to spend with their families. I didn`t mind that but why do we have to Christmas music deafening us when we go to the shops.
I`ll hear and see all the families around me enjoying christmas with each other while as usual I`ll be alone, but that doesn`t bother me either.
I wasn`t wanted by family and have never been able to make friends noit even when I when in the army.
I trust nobody, and believe nothing what anyone tells me unless they can prove it.
WHat i would like to know what makes Christmas so special from any other day of year.
Comments
WHat i would like to know
Nothing but the fact that people decide to make it special. It's just a date, used for an ancient christian holiday and now abused by the consumer industry.
It's people that make it special, without people to share, christmas is just a day were other people go crazy.
Abused?
It's actually a date taken from the pagan holidays and used by Christianity. But on to your next point:
I think calling it "abused" is rather strong. I like the secularization of Christmas to be honest. You give gifts because you want to see your loved ones smile. You aren't supposed to expect stuff in return. You help others and you smile at all the pretty little lights and reefs adorning shops and streetlights and houses.
I don't care how "consumer based" this holiday is. Without the consumer aspect Christmas wouldn't be fun. There'd be no Christmas CDs, twinkling lights, amusing decorations, enjoyable gifts, or delicious food. It'd just be a day like any other.
But as to the posters question: most of what makes Christmas special (in my own secular sense) is the people you share it with.
Dec 25th
It's a commercial hijacking of a Christian hijacking of various winter solstice traditions (the monks creating the Gregorian Calendar made a mistake) including Yule (Northern Europe in general), the Perchta ritual (pre-Christian alpine) and Sol Invictus (Roman).
As ever, the point of the commercial hijacking is to sell as much stuff as possible in order to make as much profit as possible. Unsurprisingly, both Tom Lehrer (A Christmas Carol) and Bob Rivers (Wreck The Malls, Twelve Pains of Christmas) have produced satirical Christmas tunes poking fun at the commerce and traditions. Weird Al, perhaps unsurprisingly, went one step further with his satire (Christmas At Ground Zero) while there must be at least a dozen send-ups of the seriously drunken driver and his rather unusual form of transport...
Oh, and no, I'm not going to link to the songs. If you want to hear them that badly, go to YouTube and find them yourselves :)
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Reasons, Why Christmas is Special
You may, of course, believe me or not. Some of your blog I can identify with and relate too. I too spent most of the holidays working while I was a police officer. For me, I couldn't help but thinking on every holiday, this sucks.
But, you ask a question, "what makes Christmas so special from any other day of year?"
I choose to believe you are indeed asking an honest question. It's a question that is answered by Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas. I suspect, though, you are looking for an answer that is not covered by the merely factual entry in Wikipedia.
So, I'll answer for me. In spite of what politicians or nations chose to do, Christmas is a time to celebrate what is good and right in the world. Yes, it is the traditional date assigned to the birth of Jesus Christ. However, even those who do not believe in Christianity hold the season up as an ideal. A tme for peace. A time for good will.
Yes, that ideal is corrupted by the commercialism; the crass marketing of the birth of Christ as a secular symbol of giving more than we can afford. Yes, people speak out of both sides of their mouth. On one hand there is the call to "peace on earth, good will toward men." On the other, the evil of man is revealed: JonBenet Ramsey was murdered, Washington leads an attack on the British, Richard Nixon orders a resumption of bombing North Vietnam, all on December 25th, and the list goes on.
The hypocrisy of some does not affect the sincerity of others.
To sum it up, I believe it is worthwhile, noble, and right to set aside a day each year dedicated to those principles: "peace on earth, good will toward men."
For me, that is reason enough to celebrate Christmas.
I should not want to end this without declaring that I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ. For me celebrating His birth is proper and right.
For me, THAT is reason enough to celebrate Christmas.
So, whether I approach the celebration of Christmas from a secular point of view, or a Christian point of view, I am content in the celebration.
Should you wish to continue this topic off-list, Please feel free to e-mail me.
Blessings,
Beth
Dear Jaquimac
What makes Christmas so special?
People!
What makes the Xmas holiday season so furiously insane?
People!
I tend to think of myself as more pagan than anything else these days. So I really don't get anything of religeous significance out of the celebration. I do understand though how families get together and try to get their children to see it as more than a greedy present grab. I still love much of the music and it is AMAZING how inspired SOOOOOOOO many composers have been by this.
My suggestion? Look for ONE GOOD THING in you life that you can celebrate during these troubled times. MAKE THAT - YOUR Yuletime celebatory theme.
Be well hon, you are NOT alone, at least not by yourself. Lets be alone together?
with love,
Hope Eternal Reigns
with love,
Hope
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
Putting the X back in Xmas
I was going to say that as a writer you can take it simply as a classic theme... and then I saw that you had! You wrote a Christmas story yourself.
There are some themes and tropes... like the way rain in a Hollywood film reflects a deep emotional change.
And so Christmas, comes so close to the end of the year, one usually imagines with snow... and so there's the image of someone walking alone in the snow, reflecting, maybe sadly about the year has gone, and looking for some kind of hope, a la that awful movie It's A Wonderful Life.
Think of the song White Christmas: if you look at the lyrics (with the introductory phrases), you see that the singer is alone in Los Angeles, dreaming and wishing he could be with friends and family, warm inside while it's cold outside.
... and what precipitates the whole drama of Dickens' Christmas Carol? It's that Bob Cratchett wants a day off! At its simplest, it's a day off, and everything stops.
It's kind of a New Years of its own sort that's packed with melancholy and hope, and transformations and traditions.
I dunno... what makes Friday special from any other day of the week?
Wow, that's a good question!
This is only my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. I like what Beyogi said, it's not the day that's special, it's the fact that we choose this day to make it special. Yeah, some people use it to mark the birth of Christ, but even the Bible tells us that we have the season wrong, much less the date. It doesn't matter. As a Christian, I accept that we celebrate this date, and I know we've taken over a pagan holiday. So what?
The whole thing is that we choose to celebrate whatever it is we celebrate at this season. You choose not to celebrate? That's fine, matters little to me, except that it is depressing that you choose to be angry. You choose to be a cynic? All within your rights, and I understand completely, it sounds quite silly sometimes, even to me. For me, it's a matter of my faith, a personal choice that I made years ago.
You don't need to respect or celebrate the season, that's okay with me. I choose to enjoy this over-marketed and under appreciated season for what it means to me-sharing with my family and friends. We don't do many gifts, and our kids understand this. We like to celebrate by being together-with our church, with our families. I've taught my kids it's not about gifts, it's about understanding we're all family, even if only one day a year.
Wren
Someone once said...
..."But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!'" A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
No matter how anyone else might celebrate or choose not to celebrate Christmas, it's really how I choose to celebrate it that matters in the long run. Being a Christian, I treasure the significance of the event of the nativity beyond what day and time it arrives on my calendar, and that it is special for the good that birth has done and continues to do for me and does for anyone who believes.
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
Hmmm....
Sounds like someone needs a nap.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Doctor Seuss summed it up nicely in his story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
The Whos down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, the Grinch did not.
He proceeded to steal the food, presents, decorations, and all the trappings of Christmas.
But did the Whos down in Whoville all cry boo-hoo?
I hope you have seen the story, or the original animated movie. It's quite touching. Yes, it's easy to be cynical and note that people would not be celebrating if they had been robbed blind. Still, the whole point is that all of the goodies and decorations seek to enhance the holiday, but aren't the reason for the holiday.
As a Christian, I relish Christmas as the celebration of God's perfect gift to all mankind. I love the music and decorations and gift giving, but that only serves to enhance the original meaning.
I recognize that Christians are not the first to celebrate new life on or about the winter solstice. That doesn't matter. The day means exactly what it means to you.
I heard the bells on Christmas day
their old familiar carols played
And wild and deep the words repeat, of
Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men
And in despair, I bowed my head
"There is no peace on Earth," I said.
For hate is strong and mocks the song of
Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor does he sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with
Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men
While we have to recognize that things are far from perfect, it is good to take a break and celebrate all of the good that is around. We need to recognize what is broken if we want to fix it, but we also need to recognize all of our blessings, be thankful for them, and use that to refuel our souls. Thus fortified, we can move on with renewed strength.
(And yes, I am listening to Christmas music and preparing to string lights)
That's floury, matters
That's floury, matters minuscule to me, eliminate that it is Testking 70-685 gloomy that you decide to be sore. You Testking 70-667 determine to be a philosopher? All within your rights, and I read completely, it sounds quite slaphappy sometimes, plane to me. For me,