What does Christmas mean to you?

[watervole]

Christmas has changed in my lifetime and I'm not sure it's all for the better. The religious aspect has pretty much vanished (I haven't had a single religious Xmas card so far this year); if we get any carol singers, the odds are that they'll only be able to sing 'Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer' and none of the decorative lights I've yet seen have any religious aspect to them.

These, in themselves, don't bother me (though I much prefer the traditional carols), but what I do miss is what has gone with them. [Unknown site tag] An important aspect of Christmas to me has always been the desire for reconciliation, forgiveness and making peace. It was a time when you made a genuine attemt to end old arguments, reach out to people you would normally dislike and try to make contact. (It was the time when my next door neighbour's wife and I would exchange cards in spite of the fact the her husband and I did not get on at all. That brief contact each year was enough to enable me to reach out and help her when she was badly distressed after her son's car got vandalised.)

Where has that cultural desire for peace and forgiveness gone? I don't see it any more.

Could the Christmas Truce of World War 1 ever happen in today's world? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

If I've hurt or offended anyone reading this, then this is the time of year to tell me about it and see if I can put it right.

Comments

[peaceful-fox.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on this 100%!

I prefer the traditional carols instead of the modern (by modern, I mean after 1870! LOL!), but even more than that, I wonder what has happened to the peace and forgiveness aspect as well. I'm not a Christian, but those sentiments don't have any religious boundaries -it should be what we all achieve.

When I was growing up we left the front door open on Christmas Eve because anyone was allowed to walk in the house- they could be Christ disguised as a mortal, so who was to deny them? People we hadn't seen in ages would show up. It was a Czech and Polish tradition. It was much more of a community and family event. *sigh*

To me, Christmas is the passing on of old traditions that my family had - I never had a dysfunctional Christmas so I have good memories of the holidays. We sent cards, we had meals together, we went caroling, Santa would come by riding on the back of the firetruck and give candy to the children. We would go to midnight Mass. We would have special meals, special traditions, and we had to act a certain way - and that was respect for all human beings. We would try to make those actions extend through the new year. We often failed. We did try, and that was the important part.

[lexin.livejournal.com]

I haven't had a single religious Xmas card so far this year

Really? I've had quite a few, which is odd. But I did notice (because I choose to send secular cards) that it was a bit easier to find them in the shops compared with previous years when I've struggled.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I've sent fewer religious ones than usual. I think that's because I regard them as fine art cards, and I bought a lot of Japanese snow scenes that filled that slot this year. But I think I've seen fewer in the shops, and those that are there tend to be the same as previous years, whereas I do like to vary them a little. So far, it's noticeable that nearly all the religious/fine art cards I've received have been from family, and there have been very few I'd want to keep.

[frandowdsofa.livejournal.com]

The Christmas Truce didn't happen in the old world, as far as my family are concerned, someone shot and killed my great-uncle Ernest Palfrey that day, he was only 21.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I like your story about the neighbour's wife, food for thought

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, one reason I get all grumpy about Santafest -- it isn't about peace and forgiveness, it's about getting presents. And even the myth of Santa isn't about peace, it's about punishment and reward ("He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake")

(I'd say more, but I gotta go)

[temeres.livejournal.com]

If I've hurt or offended anyone reading this, then this is the time of year to tell me about it and see if I can put it right.

Too late for that. You've already sent me a Christmas card. To my old address as it happens, but I got it anyway.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Would you prefer me not to send one next year?

[lonemagpie.livejournal.com]

I've never been big on the Christian aspect but I do find the time of year a spiritual one in general. Most cultures have a midwinter festival (Christmas, Eid, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) and it's cool that there's a time of year set aside for everybody.

OTOH, since having been self-employed for a dozen years, I more and more find that the holiday season is a right pain in the arse, because the whole publishing industry shutting down for December/January means I get no work and don't get paid. Which makes this the most difficult time of the year for such simple necessities as paying the rent or buying food...