This is the time of year that brings many people happiness and yet others sadness

for many it's bittersweet...

I "LIKE" Christmas for many reasons...

#1 ~ The time believers set time to celebrate the birth of our Savior

#2 ~ Seeing the amazing smiles from my GRANDdaughter when she sees Grandpa and Nonni's Christmas decorations and lights

#3 ~ The music! Love-LOVE the music

#4 ~ The memories of my kids standing at the top of the stairs looking, with sleepy eyes, down into the living room at the SANTA goodies

#5 ~ The joy of handing out Christmas baskets at church to those that are less fortunate

I don't have many dis-likes but I do understand why so many feel stressed and disappointed this time of year

Prayers that all of us focus a little more on the joy of the season

YOUR THOUGHTS?.....

Well, personally I dislike Christmas, but I don't think you want to hear about it in what seems to be a celebratory thread. It does feel as if it may be more appropriate for the faith forum, however, since you're talking about it from a specifically religious, Christian standpoint.

wow, lighten up, ha.

I wrote about this in another thread, but since irl I repeat myself often, why not in a forum??

I love the smell of the pine trees
the craft fairs
all the lighted decorations, especially at night
love singing and hearing the carols; midnight mass
I like baking cookies (though it can be tiring, don't have the energy I once did!)
the cheesy holiday movies
I'm knitting a couple of gifts (love knitting)
I love giving gifts, and ok, getting them (fun to unwrap a gift, ha)
I'm not a big shopper, but I do enjoy going into the little stores in the neighborhood and seeing all the stuff they have, and sometimes finding something special for someone; actually, I use it as an excuse to window shop at a lot of places I don't normally go to

we're going to make snow flakes for the windows today, too funny

Well, Christmas is a Christian holiday.

I'm a non-theist, but I enjoy many aspects of Christmastime.

Likes....

1. Being able to do nice things for people without having to come up with a reason. Giving to charities is facilitated too, thanks to angel/silver trees, holiday food drives, etc.
2. Getting to spend time with family.
3. The music and other artistic endeavors. I'm a sucker for a good Christmas story, and I like some of the Christmas-themed plays too. C'mon, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is hilarious.
4. The decorations (to a point....). I especially like the lights and the evergreen stuff. The actual lights are one of the things I like best about Hanukkah, too. Those and latkes. Yum.
5. Giving and getting presents. Especially when they're wrapped. It's just fun.
6. Getting to see religious people take religion seriously. This isn't meant as a slur on Christians, and some people are mindful of their professed beliefs all the time, but a lot of people do seem more thoughtful and "tuned-in" to their religion than they do at other times of the year.
7. I haven't been to one in a while, but I've also liked the Christmas Eve church services.
8. Christmas parties. They give me the chance to see people when they're more relaxed (relaxed, not drunk (usually)), as well as to see people I don't normally get to spend time with.
9. Writing Christmas cards. I love to correspond with people using "snail" mail, but most of the people I know aren't into that. Sending Christmas cards is a fun way to stay in touch with my extended family and friends, without having them ask why I didn't just send them a message on Facebook.

Dislikes...

The turbo-charged commercialism that's become associated with the holiday, mainly.

I understand your point Esofia, however a lot of my post was about
and he is not "religious".....

As far as more appropriate in Faith Based I disagree. I have posted Christmas threads here for almost 10 years. I find the majority of the posters that post on them are usually not religious at all. They celebrate the "season"....

and we share those memories/traditions....

likes and dislikes.

Tonight is the holiday parade in my town! Brrrrr!!!! It will be fun (and cold!)

I love Christmas lights. And red chile (of course, that's year round) Decorating the Christmas trees and seeing all of the ornaments we've collected through the years. Snowmen. Penguins!

many of mine have been said...

the pine smell of a fresh tree or wreath..
the lights...especially the smiles of small children when they see the light but at almost 46 I become a kid again when the lights are glowing..
It's a Wonderful Life & Miracle on the 34th St..
the music..
memories of past Christmas's

dislike--the commercialism of it all...

This time of the year, I have the BEST job. I work at a Child Advocacy Center. We work with children who have been physically and sexually abused. Several of our children are truly disadvantaged. I match these families with sponsors. When the sponsors come in, they are so excited about what they are giving the family. When the families come in, they are truly thankful. I get lots of hugs from and share lots of tears with both sides. In it all, I am the one who is truly blessed.

My only dislike right now is that I can't put up a Christmas tree for the SECOND year in a row because, like last year, I have a new kitten in the house. As I was sure the first one would destroy the tree last year, I'm more than certain that the new kitty will destroy it this year. (BTW, I am now on my THIRD laptop charging cord due to kitten teeth destroying them. Not fun at $80 a pop, so I'm well versed in what my kittens will destroy!!).

Gary, I'm kind of sad this year as it's my first Christmas without my Mom--not that we've celebrated with them much since I moved down here 21 years ago, but it's still bittersweet.

But for some likes....baking cookies and my Mom's Julekaka. Hot chocolate and egg nog (not that I actually drink it often!). Giving to our local charities where I KNOW the money will go to good use (I'm so sick of "paid professional fundraisers calling me!). Christmas lights on my way home from work. Just the gathering of friends and family and the feeling of togetherness. Oh, and game time on Christmas afternoon with the kids and Grandma & Grandpa while DH sleeps in front of the football game on TV!

I'm Jewish by conversion, but I grew up as a Christian and I still enjoy Christmas. My family celebrates the holidays in a pretty secular manner; Christmas for us is all about family and traditions. And food and alcohol, lol.

My favorite things:

- Christmas Eve with my family! My father lines the driveway and street in front of their house with luminaria and it's so beautiful, especially when it's a white Christmas. So many homes in their neighborhood used to do it, but I think my parents are the only ones who still do. And the big Christmas Eve party at my parents' house - food and drinks and Christmas carols and Secret Santa and White Elephant and everyone stays until well past midnight. My grandmother passed away last year, and I will always miss her playing the piano on Christmas Eve. She played by ear, and it was always unique and beautiful.

-Christmas morning with my parents and sister and husband! More traditions. Stockings and watching my sister open her gifts (she's 32, and still gets SO excited on Christmas morning to open her gifts) and party leftovers for breakfast with mimosas.

-Wrapping paper and ribbon. I LOVE picking out wrapping paper and fancy ribbon for my gifts. I use a different color scheme each year, and on Christmas morning each family member gets their own specific paper that I've picked out just for their gifts.

-Napoleon creams. If you've never had them, you are seriously missing out.


Things I could do without:

-Staying up until 4am in a hotel room wrapping my parents and sister's gifts because we've traveled in from out of town for the holiday, lol. I am very particular about how my gifts are wrapped (see above), and they must look perfect. This was much easier when I lived in the same city as my family, lol.

-Christmas Day dinner at my aunt's house. I love my extended family, but there is such a thing as TOO much togetherness in the space of 24 hours! We're usually all exhausted from the night before and would really rather just stay home in our pajamas.


For all the craziness and constant go-go-go that traveling to see my family for Christmas entails, I'm going to be very sad to miss it all this year. I'm going through some treatments right now which require me to stay local over the holidays, and this will only be the second time ever that I've not spent Christmas with my family. The last time, 7 years ago, I was utterly depressed. Here's hoping that my procedure is successful; if it is, I will have something to be very merry about on Christmas.


I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

I should go shower, shave and put on my fancy clothes for our company party....

but I am enjoying sitting here with my lovely wife, glass of wine in hand, listening to the 500 Christmas songs programmed....

on my ipod...

playing on "our" Christmas present to ourselves...

our new Bose ipod dock....

"Thank you for the present babe!...why thank you too babe"

"We deserve it...we do".....

lol

For the record, I'm an atheist. Having said that,

I LOVE Christmas!!
I love the warmer spirit that seems to be everywhere, I love shoping for gifts, the smell of wrapping paper, baking holiday treats, the commonality of shopper and people when I'm out and about, sending out Christmas cards, receiving people's cards; especially when they have a family photo and we can see how big all the kids got!. I LOVE Christmas music, singing it, hearing it! I love putting up the tree and seeing the lights after it gets dark out. I love seeing family on the holidays. I love all the Christmas movies they play this time of year, especially the classics! Decorations, Santa, stockings, I even have a nativity set I've put up for years.
Christmas just brings this overall feeling of love and celebration that I look forward to every year!

I consider myself to be agnostic, not totally convinced of anything. But, I love Christmas and the whole holiday season! And I'm very respectful and maybe even slightly envious of those who are serious believers. The love rubs off on me a little during this time of the year.

I have my moments of self-pity and poor me, but over all, it's a nice time to be with people. Lots of warm fuzzies!

One of my favorite things to do is send out holiday cards. I love, love, love the idea of sending a kind, warm thought to people I don't get to see very often, regardless of religion. Obviously, we should do this year-round, but this is the time *I* do it.

Love the Christmas music, love the kids and Santa, candles and treats. And like GlamourGirl827 does, I put out my nativity set every year.

To be honest, I love the commercialism! I do understand why it bothers people and I don't mean to be disrespectful, but it really peps me up and keeps the spirit of the season going for me. I don't have much family or tradition to follow, so the stores and shopping keep me feeling connected and involved. Plus, shopping for the people I love is just part of the fun.

Celebrating Christmas really doesn't have to have anything to do with religion if you don't want it to. The holiday itself is only related to Christianity very loosely that it's really, truly, more of a "mixed bag" holiday.

That said, I celebrate Christmas because to me it means a time to get together with family and express our joy and happiness of having each other in our lives. To exchange gifts as symbols of that love and joy, and to just really connect with them.

I love the christmas trees, the lights, the decorations, the gift wrapping, the gift buying, the ribbons, the treats, etc.

Like Gogirl008, I also love the commercialism. I love the flow of people everywhere, I love the holiday displays, etc. It's just all so pretty!

Plus, even though it's usually a REALLY stressful time of year - I find that people are oftentimes more polite and happy than any other time of the year.

I personaly care only about people and secondarily about the rest of living things. Gods and religions belong (to me) in the sphere of philosophy, theory and culture. I do not give this stance of mine a title.

Having said so, I like many things about Christmas, but most have to do with childhood memories and how happy my mother is when we celebrate it. Also I generaly like holidays and celebrations, because they are peaceful and make some people happy.

Sadly I also dislike plenty of things about this holiday in specific.

1. I have a childhood hate against Santa Claus, easter rabbit etc, because it was the first time I realised my parents consistently lied to me and taught me rubbish as truth and not happy fiction. As an adult I forgive of course their good intended lies, but the child I was felt unsafe, abandoned and heartbroken. (Not because they didn't exist, but because the people I depended on most lied to me blatantly)

2. I hate how many trees get cut, used and thrown away just for a decoration. Buy reusable plastic trees people, they don't have parasites on them, don't shed needles and above all don't die.

3. I hate how much paper gets wrapped around things simply to be torn away and thrown away.

4. I do not like how my pre diabetic mother uses it as another excuse to not lose weight. I'd rather abolish Christmas from my life than lose her.

5. I do not like how so many cultures and groups of people do not share it with us, either because they are too poor or believe in different things. Holidays should be global.

6. I do not like how marketing uses and abuses the holiday from early november till mid of january.

7. I do not like the fact that relationships get measured with gifts by shallow people and kids.

8. I hate how expensive airplane tickets become during holidays.

9. I hate the traffic jams it creates

Still we can always improve Christmas in the future. I will celebrate Eco-friendly human-centered holidays with my children. Not consumarism-plagued religion themed ones.