What sorts of holiday
traditions do you have? For instance, do you put up a Christmas tree?
Stockings by the chimney and cookies for Santa?
As for presents, do you
open them on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
As for services, do you
go to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Is there a special
meal you eat to celebrate? Do you have family and friends over? Or,
are you like a lot of my friends back home who do nothing at all? I
ask because I get a lot of enjoyment out of hearing how other people
live and thought you might too. I don't know much about other
holidays (Hanukkah, etc), so feel free to tell me about those too.
When we were kids, we
put up the Christmas tree and put our wrapped presents under it. My
dad would put up all kinds of Christmas lights up outside, as would
everyone else in the neighborhood. At least once a week or so we
would drive around to see particular houses that were known to have
elaborate light displays and see if we could find anything new. We
especially got a kick out of going to the country to see these two
houses that had a running “contest” as to who could make the most
outlandish outdoor display. I think one year I counted 16 Santa
faces, 12 Nativity scenes, about 20 reindeer and all sorts of elves
and candy canes. And this was in one yard. It must be nice to
have that much time and money on your hands!
We weren't raised as
Christians-at least, we didn't go to church past a certain point-,
but we took part in the traditional American celebration. More than
anything it was a time to get together and give gifts to the people
we love. We did the whole Santa-and-stockings thing well past the
time when a lot of others would have stopped; we didn't believe in
Santa anymore, but it was still fun to go through the motions as
though we did. Plus, my nephew was born when I was 12 and we went all
out for him.
I remember my
brother-in-law telling me that he hated the idea of Santa Claus
because he felt Christmas was supposed to be about Jesus and Jesus
alone. He didn't want my nephews to sit on Santa's lap or do the
other things that then-one-year-olds do because he wanted them to
know what Christmas was “really” about.
My sister eventually
got him to step back by telling him that she would make sure that the
boys knew that Santa and Jesus had nothing to do with each other and
that the birth of Jesus was the “important” part of the holiday.
Santa was just a silly American celebration while Jesus was the
savior of the world. This is pretty common among my religious friends
and what I plan on doing when and if I have children.
Overall, holidays are
what you make of them. They can be as sacred or profane; fun or
boring; lonely or loving, whatever-it's how you want to observe them,
if you observe them at all. Things have the meaning we give them and
there's nothing anyone else can do to take that away. Ultimately,
it's all up to you.
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