Have we lost the true meaning of Christmas?

[GingerSnaps]

Christmas isn't about gift giving it's about the day that the baby Jesus was born.It burns me up when I see people arguing over gifts at Christmas time. Christmas has come down to money and it has lost it's meaning.

Here is how it plays out:One person has to buy someone else something because they would feel guilty if they didn't even tho they don't want to give them anything. Another person has to buy something the same exact price that the person that's getting them a gift is paying because they wouldn't want to be cheated out of a few cents by paying more money then the other person.

Then you have the bratty kids that make a list that is 3 pages long with specifics on how what store to buy it at and how to locate the department that the gift is located in and how much it should cost. The same kid totals up his list and compares it with all of his siblings because they want to make sure that no one gets jypped out of a present either.

Christmas isn't about going to a relatives house because you are in their will and if you don't take them a gift they might write you out of it and leave you penny less. It's also not about buying someone an engagement ring and asking them to marry you so that they will feel guilty if they say no.

Christmas isn't about complaining that you drew the "biggest jerks" name in the office out of the pool of names and now you have to find anything trashy that costs $20.00 and you don't even put a thought into it. It's not about giving your doorman, paperboy,maid or anyone else that helps you during the year a coupon book from McD's or Burger King because you should put throught into their tiny gift that shows your appreciation.

Christmas isn't about arguing with people that you don't know in toy and department stores. If you have to fight over a gift at Christmas then why are you giving it because hate is not suppose to be in your heart especially at Christmas. Your kid should understand that they didn't have the toy in stock so Santa brought them another toy instead.

Do you think that the wise-man fought over who was going to give baby Jesus the gold, incense or myrrh?

Christmas is about family, traditions and love. Please remember that!

The best thing that you can do at Christmas if you don't need anything would be to go to the post office and take a few of the letters addressed to Santa out of the bins and read them. Don't just look for the children letters either because seniors and disabled people are alone and need a bit of compassion as well.

I make a budget of $100.00 and I pick out a name for every pile including the family pile. I try to make someones Christmas a little brighter then it might end up being.

Another suggestion for people that are either alone or somewhat alone is to work at a shelter on Christmas eve and Christmas. Remember the holiday is about giving from the heart and not the pocketbook.

No matter if you believe in Jesus or not Christmas is celebrated around the world. It's not about the gift giving. Peace be with you!

:hug: :loveya:

"May all your dreams come true"

[Maple]

1. Actually it's about

the Solstice, and the rebirth of the sun. Don't blame me for what a bunch of christians have done to it.

[jwnparadise]

2. Do you have a link

for that? Sounds interesting.

[GingerSnaps]

3. A link for what?

My message?

[PartyPooper]

4. LOL!

:D

[Maple]

8. Sure. Lots of them

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1220_021220_solstice.html

http://www.boulder.lib.co.us/youth/holidays/solstice/solstice2.html

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/SF/WinSol.html

http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html

[jwnparadise]

10. Thanks

LOL should have been more specific, I was after the solstice link.

[Nevernose]

12. Jesus was actually born in the summer

At least, that was when taxes were collected in Israel, and the hunt for male children was conducted. We celebrate Christmas in the winter mostly because of the early Catholics' method of conversion, best summarized as "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Christmas and Easter are both pagan holidays converted to the use of Christianity.

The original Sabbath, BTW, was on Saturday, just like the Jews still hold the sabbath. Ever hear of Seventh Day Adventists? It was moved to Sunday becuase that was the holy day/day of rest to the Romans, and it was easier to convert the Romans if they left the traditional days of the week untouched.

I don't have links to this, either, because I don't feel like looking it up right now. I do, however, have a fairly decent college education. Look it up yourself, or belive me or not -- your choice.

[intheflow]

26. Sure.

Here's a link to a National Geographic article about solstice: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1220_021220_solstice.html
The Solstice-Christmas conneciton is about 1/2 way down the page.

[Wapsie B]

11. The Nordic people used this time

for celebration. It was one wild drunken orgy until early Christians got ahold of it.

[WCGreen]

16. Actually the Solstice is the 21st of December

the longest night of the year, I'm getting ready for the celebration. that really kicks of the holiday season for me....

Then comes Christmas...

The idea of celebrating Christmas the way we do today is truly an American invention....

Like everything else, we pulled together myths and traditions from all over the world and cobbled them together to create this monster we call Christmas....

The Puritans actually forbade the celebration of Christmas.....

Really, watch the special on the History Channel that goes into the history of Christmas.....

It's great and makes no attempt to gloss over the whole story...

curiously, the advent of "gifts" came from the bounty of the harvest. We share what we know will soon be gone. But when the middle class started to grow and grow, that's when Christmas and gift giving really took off....

Maybe that is why we celebrate Christmas the way we do, it was born out of the need to celebrate the new found wealth of the many....

In that sense, it truly is the expression of our culture in that we rejoice in the fact many more today can splurge than ever before....

Tongue in check with a little bit of truth added just for the hell of it......

[GingerSnaps]

19. I live in the center of a shopping district

A very wealthy shopping district and when I am on my way to School the people will knock you down with bags and bags full of merchandise. Do they once say excuse me or even look your way after they bump into you? NO!

We have homeless people on the streets that they pass by and they act like they don't exist but they do. Do you think that they have the courtesy to say excuse me or find a small amount of compassion in their hearts to hand the homeless a bag of food, blanket or a few bucks.

No one is blaming you and I didn't call any names it was my rant and this is also my rant.

I was talking about the repugs mentality and attitude towards people.

[azoth]

25. The King is Dead; Long Live the King.

It's the celebration of the rebirth of the light after the long winter's darkness.

THAT is why it's full of joy and all those wonderful things. It *is* about birth/rebirth and was "borrowed" by the early christians in an attempt to make their version of religion more palatable to the pagans. I forget, however, which pope mis-chose the date when they made things "official."

Same as Easter, you know - a holiday named for the Goddess of the Dawn.

Revisionist Religion 101

[RevCheesehead]

5. Another good option is to donate to charity in someone's name.

Heifer Project does a great job of providing "package gifts" that really help people in thrid-world countries. There are always the "love-light trees." Toys for Tots, Coats for Kids, UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, your local food pantry or homeless shelter, Red Cross, United Way, your local church....

Many of these organizations provide gift cards. Or you can write one of your own, saying "A gift of love has been made in your name to: _________.

Of course, if you have kids, that's different. But ask them if they'd like to share one of their toys with someone who doesn't have any gifts. You might be surprised.

[GingerSnaps]

7. CSNY

Teach your children well!

My parents were not the richest people in the world but they taught us how to give and we gave from our heart.

Years later my sister turned Christmas into a money giving time of year when she made up a three page list with details about where to find the merchandise that was either on layaway or on hold. The list was over $1,000.00 dollars and my Dad got her everything on the list.

I got a bass guitar, amp and electric piano from a pawn shop that year because I knew how to stretch my dollars. :D

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Not lost

only occasionally forgotten.

Maybe it's harder for Democrats these days, since those who oppress and murder innocent people loudly profess loyalty to Christ. There is perhaps nothing more difficult than being a Democrat and a Christian right now. It's a test of faith that they're experiencing.

[GingerSnaps]

13. I am not any denomination

I go to the church that I am near which is a Roman Catholic Church but I was baptized another religion. My Mom's moms family moved to the south in the 1800's and they were Jewish but they had to forget their religion because it wasn't kosher to be Jewish in the south in that era.

I would prefer to be a mixed mutt that Learns about everything then someone stuck as a Born Again Christian thinking that I am better then anyone else.

My Dad has told me since I was a kid that everyone is the same on the inside no matter where you come from or what you believe in and in the end we all go to the same place.

I believe that the truth about our birth and existence is written in the hieroglyphics. The Pharaohs were more advanced then we will ever know.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. Well said.

My current preference is to refuse to label my beliefs. I guess I'm more Unitarian than anything else, but it seems like the labels are what really gets people angry with each other.

To my mind, suggesting Christianity is the only route to heaven is like saying that dandelions are the only real flower.

[GingerSnaps]

14. I love Church on Christmas Eve

OMG That reminds me I have to buy my tickets through ticket-master to my church for mass on Christmas Eve. That is the only thing that gets me mad I shouldn't have to buy tickets to mass. I only need one ticket because my Dad has dementia and he wouldn't even know that he was there.

[Nevernose]

9. Christmas is about Santa Claus -- duh.

Christmas is about Santa Claus. Greatest invention ever conceived by man. Every year I buy my kid presents (after rading her letter to Santa, of course), and very year I buy her most of what's on that list (except the Bratz dolls, which are slutty, and the pony, which is expensive).

And every year I get to see that kid's face light up at that little bit of magic. And every year I tell her the same thing -- "Daddy can't afford Christmas present this year, honey. I'm sorry. You know we're poor." (She'll hate me later, I know, but for now it works just fine)

And every year I get to experience the thrill of giving without reward. I don't get anything out of it -- no love, no respect, no appreciation, not even a "thank you" -- nothing except the joy on my kid's face. I never understood what Santa or Christmas was about before this.

If I had more money, I'd be giving anonymous charitable donations away instead of Christmas gifts.

[GingerSnaps]

17. Some adults

Have lost the meaning of Christmas. Of course kids should have presents but don't let them go through what my family and other families do that let marketing take over their life's.

Huge Christmas lists, so many gifts that my Mom would have to buy an extra tree for the foyer to accommodate the other gifts. Massive amounts of food that gets tossed in the garbage because we didn't have room in the fridge to store it all. We had to have the food because it was a tradition to have 4 different kinds of meats at Christmas.

It didn't stop there we also had to have the traditional Candy from Godiva, Fanny Mae, Sees and massive packages from Swiss Colony filled with nuts and various butters and hard candy.

I almost forgot we had to outdo the other houses on our block with decorations on the outside. A sleigh wouldn't do! We had to have a huge Santa that cost a pretty penny because the cheaper ones blew away. Last but not least if we didn't have snow then we would get together with a few other people on the block and order it.

(If you live in a place that you want some fake snow delivered to your house call a large Party Store or email me. I will let you know where you can get them at. They are like the ones that they use at ice skating rinks but smaller)


:puke: :scared: Christmas has a different meaning for me now and when I have kids I will teach them that Santa brings presents but he also has to give other kids presents as well.

[ikojo]

22. Ordering snow? Didn't Aaron Spelling do that one Christmas

for his spoiled brat Tori Spelling?

Must be nice to have so much cash that ordering snow on Christmas is deemed important.

Wow!

[GingerSnaps]

23. Yes but all we had to do

Is send the guy that shoveled it for the streets and it was piled up on the sides to go and get the block a bunch of the snow. You can do that if you have a guy that will take a few bucks from every one and gather it. The parents needed something to make tracks in so that it looked like Santa had been there.

You can also order it from the party store. They bring out a machine that has ice in it or something like that and people pay a few hundred bucks for snow. It's not real snow but it works.

We had people that would pay whatever it costs to make their party look real.

[Nevernose]

24. Please don't take this the wrong way

But until I read the part about "ordering snow" I wasn't too disgusted. If I had the chance to buy egregious amounts of candy, food, and presents, I probably would, and I don't think you have anything to feel guilty about.

My dad was a drunk who ran out on us, and if it wasn't for my grandparents, I wouldn't have gotten much in the way of Christmas presents at all. My mother was well educated and we were, I guess, comfortably middle-class, but after paying the bills by herself for the other eleven months, there probably wasn't too much to go around. Or at least I wasn't spoiled TOTALLY rotten.

For my daughter's first Christmas and Thanksgiving, our feasts were provided with food stamps. Presents were a bit trickier, but we still got by. In the last 5 or 6 years, though (and since the mother is no longer in the picture very much), Christmas has been getting better and better. For the first time this year we are in our own house instead of an apartment or a relative's home; he have not one but three Christmas wreaths hanging; there are garland and decorations smattered across the downstairs; and our artifical tree is now four years old and still covered with wonderful, garish lighting. Things are a little weak on the present-front this year, since Bush decided to cancel the grant that I was working under (I'm not bitter or anything ;)), but next year and the years after are looking better than ever -- the school district is going to put me under contract in the Spring.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't feel bad for coming from a more privileged home (or at least one that spent more money at Christmas time than mine), or for even for coming from a family that has absolutely no idea what Christmas means. If I could buy a ham, a turkey, a goose, and a boiled poodle every year for the holidays, you could bet your sweet bottom I would. My kid would have that pony or horsie or whatever the hell it is inside a New York minute (provided I still had the money to give something to MoveOn and the Sierra Club, of course). One only learns to appreciate things when they don't have them, and I would prefer that you and me and everyone else have things.

You seem to have turned out okay, right? :) Maybe you could inform your family that this year you, although you appreciate their thoughts, won't be accepting any presents, and that they can make donations to charity in your name?

God bless and Merry Christmas!

[GingerSnaps]

27. We lived on a cul de sac

I live in an area that has huge snow storms and the trucks in the suburbs shovel it and it ends up either on the sides of the road or in a large heap further down the road.

When it snows some streets might be bare while others will be packed with snow. It all depends how heavy the snow was and what the temp. is out.

When you have some guy at the end of your cud du sac that is out of work or he does odd jobs for a living. He is the one that people call on when they want to make things happen.

By no means did I grow up in a area like Spielberg lives in. Houses in the area that I grew up in can go any where today from $200,000.00 to 4 or 5 million dollars. Average price is around $500,000.00. That is now not when I was a kid.

Yes, they do have snow machines and people use them. If you have an ice house around you it shaves the ice.

My Dad spent his Christmas bonus on our Christmas and the rest of the year we didn't get a gift unless it was our birthday.

Christmas was huge at my house and my parents over did it. My Mom loved candy and she bought all kinds of it.

It's not all that elaborate but If you were me wouldn't it make you sick of Christmas?

Parents try to give to their kids more than they had. My parents over did it and possibly they didn't know why. My Mom is dead so I can't ask her why she wanted to spoil us and I don't know if it had anything to do with her Christmas when she was a kid and all she got was a Doll, orange and an apple.

[yellowdogintexas]

18. just got back from doing some charityshopping

I have a mom w/two little girls to shop for and I just finished it up. Because it's for my church, I can get the sales tax written off which helps. I had $275 to spend for these three people, and got toys, clothes and games for the girls, and some new bath towels, drinking glasses and a gift card for the mom with the rest.

We are doing 9 or 10 families this yr..w/funds we raised last year and rserved for this holiday season.

Our fundraiser for NEXT year's budget is tomorrow night, so I have been baking and so forth for that too.

hectic, but I love it

[GingerSnaps]

21. Good for you!

You have a heart of gold!

:hug:

[mark414]

20. THE WRONG WAY TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS

by Rev. Edward W. Clayborn (The Guitar Evangelist)
Chicago, October 18, 1928.

Some people use the wrong way, the wrong way, the wrong way
Some people use the wrong way to celebrate Christmas Day

On the twenty-fifth of December 1928 (it's a national issue...) of heaven to the world that it's Jesus' birthday

Some people who work every day and draws good money every pay and here is what the same people said I wanna spend my money and have my way

While the church is praying on Christmas Day other people are roaming the streets and drinking their soul away