DO YOU CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS? WHY?

There are two Christmases and I celebrate both of them.

The first is a religious holy day celebrating the nativity. Right now we are
in the season of Advent, a time of prayer reflection and preparation.
No "celebration" yet. That starts at the Vigil -- midnight on Christmas
Eve, a beautiful ceremony. That's when the Christmas season begins.

The second is a winter holiday season that does not begin with Christmas,
but rather leads up to it. By the time Christmas arrives, most will be
thoroughly sick of shopping, card-writing, carol-singing, and Christmas-
TV-special watching. (Ring THIS, Clarence!)

I celebrate Christmas more as a time to give unselfishly and really focus on thinking of others. I try to be that person all year round but we all know how life gets in the way so this time of year I really focus on being a selfless giver.

I also celebrate it by spending more time with my family. Giving gifts and eating until we burst. It's more a celebration of life and the year gone by.

I was raised Catholic so I know where George is coming from. I used to really enjoy each week watching the Advent candles get lit. Each one closer to Christmas Eve. But now, since I've really gotten away from the church, it seems more important to me to celebrate God and Jesus through actions helping others rather than attending mass, praying and the like. I know lots of people take solace in these actions this time of year but I take solace in the fact that I am making a difference in the world.

Hi George.

You say that you 'celebrate' two Christmases. One is Christmas itself, and the other is the 'winter holiday season'.

If I understand you right, the winter holiday season (which is to be celebrated) co-incides with the season of Advent (which is not celebrated)

so although you are not actually celebrating Advent, you are celebrating during it

I'm Scrooge..........

but I believe in the Holy Jesus, Lord of Heaven and Earth

Christmas? Never heard of it.


I grew up forced to be part of the Christmas thing and I do mean forced. It started with the Church fair where you had to buy something for each member of the immediate family...considering most of it was used junk this was always a touching and thoughtful idea. "Oh look Uncle Bert, I got you a torn sweater that is 3 sizes too small."

You must give gifts to all of these people whether you want to or not and you have to send cards to all of these people and to each and every last person in your class at school even the bitchy girl who sends spitballs out of straws at everyone. YOu must go in and hand this gift to the teacher. You must go into your toy collection and take your favorite toys and put them in a box for the some local organization. You must look happy on Christmas and sing all the carols at home while the record player starts to skip. You must have some of each and every item on the christmas dinner table or mom will get mad and threaten to kill herself (she did this annually). You must not open any gift until everyone is watching and then it must be done with a big phony smile on your face. You must sure to wear your best clothes on Christmas for the Church Service. You must take part in the Church Christmas pageant. You must give money towards buying a plant to be displayed with 1000 others up along the front altar on Christmas. Even if you are sick with a fever, you must sit with the family and any guests and look frigging happy....be sure to smile at the camera, we are taking extra photos for Aunt Helga who is buried in the cemetery these past 20 years.



Ah yes. The trip down memory lane reminds me fully why I no longer celebrate Christmas. To me Christmas is every day and if someone truly believes in Jesus as the Messiah then they ought to be living that way every day.

Oh, for the record...I do not observe my birthday either, so it is not just about skipping over December 25. The only birthdays I acknowledge are for the young folks in the family up until they are about 16.

Strange thing about people they remember Christmas but once a year. One of the comedy moments that I saw growing up was the Church Days. Christmas, we better toss in an extra service...2 packed houses of worship when normally it was less than half filled. Same story on Easter. I still see more people flocking to the Church on the big holy days...guess things haven't really changed that much.

This year, for Christmas I will do the same as every year...listen to my Burl Ives music, then finish it off with Pavarotti singing O Holy Night...it moves me what can I say? I will also go around my day to day activities, doing what I can if others need my assist, the same as I would do on any other day. Isn't that what Jesus would have really wanted? Was Jesus really into big pomp and circumstance types of glittery tinsel covered galas?

My entire Christmas time celebration/observance (other than Burl and Luciano) consists of responding to the Cemetery each year and ordering a Christmas display on my parents gravesite. This I do in honor of my parents and in large part because my mother used to do it when it was just my father who was there. Meanwhile the rest of my family does their annual fight fest routine and use the next 11+ months to recover from the hurt feelings on this 'special day'. I mentioned the cemetery thing once and my sister and brother looked at me like I was insane...so what else is new? At least I care enough to remember the folks who created me.

I really do not have anything against people celebrating Christmas I just wish they would remember it's a year round deal and if certain folk do not wish to take part in it, that is perfectly okay.

Hi Nick.

Well, both are celebrated, but in different senses. "Celebrate" also means observing and occasion. In that sense, I celebrate Advent too.

Yes but not as a religious holiday.

I was raised Catholic and we always went all-out for Christmas. As I grew older I moved away from religion, questioned many things, and now prefer to try to be a good person and not fanatical about what religion is right and if there really is even a God.

My main reason for celebrating Christmas is to make time at least once a year to go all-out for my family - visiting, buying gifts, sitting down to dinner together, eating, drinking, telling stories, going to shows, taking time off work to really spend quality time with each other. Christmas was always the time we did this, and now, with my family spread out across the globe, we make an extra special effort to all go 'home' and whoop it up together and forge that wonderful bond that makes me glad they are my family.

If I had no family then I doubt I would make a special effort to celebrate it. It's really an excuse to take time to stop and enjoy a holiday and not about Christ or the bible for me.

Celebration may be the wrong word for many Christians. Observance is a bit better I think, at least for my family.

We try to keep the day real and remember the purpose behind the observance. It is simply Christianity's attempt to step back and remember that moment in time that God chose to come physically into our world and initiate the process of redemption thru Christ. My family will give gifts (without breaking any budgets or going into debt) but before doing so we always take time to read again the story of Christ's birth. As father and husband, I take the time to remind my children that our gift giving is simply a symbol of God's gift to us of salvation thru Christ.

I do not need to emphasize giving to others since I tend to emphasize the importance of that year round. My children each receive one hundred dollars each year in cash at Christmas and are urged to put it aside and use it for others during the year. They have only rarely had any left over by the following Christmas. It is my simple way of teaching them to give to those in need year round, not just during this time of year.

I think that too often too many get all caught up in celebrating and forget to observe the reason for setting aside a day to remember Christ's birth.

Anyway, Merry Christmas y'all. May God bless and may you in turn bless others, not only now but throughout the year.

Thanks everyone for that insite into how other people think of Christmas.

Keep the posts coming. And Merry Christmas (to those of you who 'celebrate' it)

I celebrate christmas as a purely carnal holliday, steeped in gluttony, sloth, greed and general good times.

i celebrate Christmas
I celebrate Christmas, knowing that it symbolically represents Jesus' birth.
I was never forced to give gifts, though. In fact, my parents always say "Oh, don't get anything for me" especially my dad... he never appreciates presents, just because he grew up in a family where they hardly ever gave any..
But i personally want to, so i still do. I getgifts for every family member, and usually, some for my closest friends too.
On Christmas, we decorate the house (I LOVE decorating, more than anyone!), but we don't have any Santa Clauses standing on our roof, or hanging on our Christmas tree.
We just don't want to. We can have stars, ornaments, of all kind, little elves playing the drums, or ringing bells, things like that. Tinsel on our Christmas tree, and parts of of fake fir trees, decorated with ribbons, on railways, fireplaces, etc.
But decorations usually don't matter much. When we barely moved into a house, we couldnt decorate. And that wasnt so bad..
But we do it because then when you see the decorations you get into a Christmasy mood, and the house just look better.
It just doesnt feel like Christmas without the decorations usually.
But I know some people, who just celebrate Christmas, just as a fun holiday when people eat dinner together, and then share gifts.
It's more then just that. It's a rememberance of Jesus!

CoastalRat,

So very well stated. The true spirit of Christmas for sure! God Bless You and Your Family.

I celebrate Christmas. I don't go all out with a tree and decorations though. I spend it with my friends and family and yes, we definitely see it as the Lord Jesus Christ's birthday (symbolically).

Merry Christmas to those that do Christmas and Happy Holidays to those that don't do Christmas.

That's a wonderful idea, CoatalRat. I might do something similar this year.

We celebrate the four weeks of Advent and spend Christmas eve at services, followed by a gathering for extended family at our house. My daughter is playing her cello in the service this year so we'll get an extra gift of hearing her play. Christmas day is spent at home, exchanging gifts and then going to my in-laws for dinner.

Coastalrat is my father. I agree with him. Christmas is about spending time with your family and not about the presents. I celebrate Christmas but with the satisfaction of knowing that Jesus Christ was born on this day. I believe you give gifts on Christmas in remembrance of Jesus Christ being born on that day. Every year I tell my parents not to get me anything but they do because they know that my brother and I know what Christmas is all about and why we celebrate it.

j.aumen.11916,

You are very blessed to have CoastalRat for a parent. He seems like a very kind and gentle spirit that loves the Lord.

I wish to you and your entire family the most Merriest of Christmases! Praise our Savior!

Thank you momma Angel

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

You are very welcome and thank you!

I am not a Christian, but I see no reason to protest Christmas. Christmas is about Santa Claus, Peanuts cartoons, and being extra nice to everybody. It's also a nice, big way to wrap-up the year.

Maybe some Christians will argue that I'm not really celebrating Christmas, at all, since I (as they say) leave Christ out of it. But to many people, Christmas has never been a Christian holiday (same goes for Easter). Some "Christmas" traditions are older than Christianity, itself.

And as for Christ, I have yet to know of any Christian who understands the true meaning of that word. (No, it isn't Jesus' last name.)