What I like about Christmas......
Dec. 26th, 2002 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1There's an incredible peacefulness between the hours of 6 pm (1800 hours) on Christmas Eve until midnight (0000 hours) on the 26th. For those 30 hours, it's as if all the machines in the world have shut down, and there's no background hum that is there every other day of the year. It's like being in a factory during a shutdown period when there's no one around.
Also, Christmas Eve doesn't feel like a night on the calendar. This year, it fell on a Tuesday night, but it didn't feel like a Tuesday night. Nor did it feel like a Friday night, a Saturday night, or a Sunday night. It fells like a "leap day" that doesn't fall in the ordinary calendar time.
And what I don't like about Christmas......
The whole month of December is one big build-up to Christmas Day. Then the day happens. And then the next day, it's business as usual. It's as if Christmas Day never happened!
The incessant commercialization and stressing-out of people. While it's nice to give gifts and send cards (and receive both), many people end up in debt -- or go deeper in debt -- to buy those gifts. How many people got "shopping mauled" this year, from the crowds, the stores, the traffic, and the time crunch?
I often get irritated when all I hear this time of year is Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.
What about the other holidays? To me, the season isn't the same without a celebration -- or evan a passing mention -- of Hanukkah, the Solstice, Dewali, and Kwanzaa. (More about this is is my "Goys' Town USA" post from earlier this month.)
"The reason for the season". As I mentioned in a repsonse to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bardiclug, the only reason Christmas is celebrated on December 25th is because a pope in the 4th century decreed that it be observed on that day. It also happens to be the same day as the ancient holiday of Saturnalia. Also, the Christmas holiday has become two holidays that fall on the same day -- the first (Christmas) is the religious celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ, and the second (Xmas) is the secular/cultural holiday that involves gift giving, tree decorating, and card sending. I'll tell you the real reason for the season: the oil burned for eight days.
What is my [now-annual] Christmastime wish?
Maybe this is the year that people will see the piece of divine energy in each
and every one of us. Maybe this is the year that people will realize that we
all worship the same deity, regardless of the name we give him or her. Maybe
this is the year that people don't throw out "Peace on Earth; Good Will
Towards All Men and Women" with the gift wrap on the 26th.
Also, Christmas Eve doesn't feel like a night on the calendar. This year, it fell on a Tuesday night, but it didn't feel like a Tuesday night. Nor did it feel like a Friday night, a Saturday night, or a Sunday night. It fells like a "leap day" that doesn't fall in the ordinary calendar time.
And what I don't like about Christmas......
The whole month of December is one big build-up to Christmas Day. Then the day happens. And then the next day, it's business as usual. It's as if Christmas Day never happened!
The incessant commercialization and stressing-out of people. While it's nice to give gifts and send cards (and receive both), many people end up in debt -- or go deeper in debt -- to buy those gifts. How many people got "shopping mauled" this year, from the crowds, the stores, the traffic, and the time crunch?
I often get irritated when all I hear this time of year is Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.
What about the other holidays? To me, the season isn't the same without a celebration -- or evan a passing mention -- of Hanukkah, the Solstice, Dewali, and Kwanzaa. (More about this is is my "Goys' Town USA" post from earlier this month.)
"The reason for the season". As I mentioned in a repsonse to
bardiclug, the only reason Christmas is celebrated on December 25th is because a pope in the 4th century decreed that it be observed on that day. It also happens to be the same day as the ancient holiday of Saturnalia. Also, the Christmas holiday has become two holidays that fall on the same day -- the first (Christmas) is the religious celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ, and the second (Xmas) is the secular/cultural holiday that involves gift giving, tree decorating, and card sending. I'll tell you the real reason for the season: the oil burned for eight days. What is my [now-annual] Christmastime wish?
Maybe this is the year that people will see the piece of divine energy in each
and every one of us. Maybe this is the year that people will realize that we
all worship the same deity, regardless of the name we give him or her. Maybe
this is the year that people don't throw out "Peace on Earth; Good Will
Towards All Men and Women" with the gift wrap on the 26th.
