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I would say there is no one, "real" meaning of Christmas. The season means different things to different people, in both religious and secular ways. I always see it as a way to reconnect with friends and family, reflect on the past year, and look forward to the next. All of the kids in the family are grown, so Santa is out of the picture for us, but it is always a time of year I look forward to - in some ways it does bring back a bit of that feeling like a kid again. If we could get a nice, light dusting of snow on the morning of the 25th - it would be perfect.
Christians manufacturing a holiday that coincides with the Winter Solstice in an attempt to convert pagans?
In fact in the early history of the USA this event was considered a holiday of pagans and a number of Christian churches here were against it. Technically a magical fat man flying around in a sleigh pulled by mythical animals, who also associates with individuals with pointed ears and who shows up bearing gifts, is something that the Bible would probably warn against. However I digress.
The Christmas holiday did not take off in the USA in it's present form until sometime in the late 1800s, I believe, as a marketing tool of a major department store as a way to stimulate sales and especially sales geared towards kids. So I guess in that regard, what we see today is of that tradition. It probably would have never taken off if they called it something like Retail Day, hence the revisionism of Christmas.
Lumbollo & jbblanton, you guys are correct. Jesus was not born in Dec and this is a "manufactured" holiday as far as religious terms goes.
Santa was a figment of Coca-Cola's imagination, taken, in part from the European Father Christmas.
That aside, it has become a tradition in this most of the world in which families gather and, of course, gifts are exchanged. It is those things that can be a source of sadness for those that do not have families or the families are not local and/or they cannot afford to give gifts to the ones that they love.
Lumbollo & jbblanton, you guys are correct. Jesus was not born in Dec and this is a "manufactured" holiday as far as religious terms goes.
Santa was a figment of Coca-Cola's imagination, taken, in part from the European Father Christmas.
That aside, it has become a tradition in this most of the world in which families gather and, of course, gifts are exchanged. It is those things that can be a source of sadness for those that do not have families or the families are not local and/or they cannot afford to give gifts to the ones that they love.
That was what I was referring to all along.
I understand what you are saying. I think some families don't give much in the way of gifts other than food gifts or something handmade simply to emphasize how ridiculous it has all gotten with the over consumption and high expectations with gifts. Cause it has gotten ridiculous. Maybe with a lot of people out of work this year, folks will take a hard look at how we have gotten to this stage where so much emphasis is put on spending the big bucks at Christmas.
I knew a family when I was in Ohio who stopped giving gifts and took a family trip each year at Christmas instead. My husband and I have started doing that as well. It is a fun way to celebrate, especially since we don't have kids yet. We spent Christmas at Disney World two years ago and it was so much fun!
Instead of giving a gift to my hubby, we give the money to charity, like the Humane Society, a gift for the critters.
Excellent suggestion! We often do this, too (also instead of flowers at a funeral - we give to charities in that person's name). We have gotten where we simply do not give gifts to each other, and the gifts I give to others are things I feel they personally would appreciate, but they are not expensive gifts. I buy things all year long with other folks in mind for Christmas gifts.
It has gotten where there are way too many expectations for gifts in our society. Kids get gifts these days (from Santa) that cost what used to be spent on gifts for the entire family!!! ONE GIFT! It seems this is what Americans excel at doing - buying stuff. I so admire folks who plan ahead and make things for their friends and family, and those gifts don't even have to include spending money.
One year I gave an elderly friend a home "tune up" as a gift. My son and I brought light bulbs, scrubbies, trash bags, ladder, tool box, etc and we went through the house and replaced light bulbs that had burned out, repaired frayed lamp cords w/ electrical tape, washed out trash cans, tightened up loose knobs on cabinets, screwed down some loose boards on the deck, etc.
Sometimes, the most appreciated gifts aren't expensive - they just take time and planning.
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