PDA

View Full Version : Christmas: Most Painful Holiday of the Year



TSherbs
December 18th, 2021, 05:04 PM
I just can't get away from the crass commercialization of this holy day. I am no longer a faithful Christian, but the importance of sacred birth and renewal and peace are deeply planted in me.

I should go on a hermitage this time of year.

GoFundMe?

j/k

Do any of you struggle with this like I do?

Bold2013
December 18th, 2021, 05:10 PM
I have a hard time balancing making it fun for my kids while trying to convey the importance of the incarnation.

Bold2013
December 18th, 2021, 05:11 PM
Also keeping them from turning into entitled ingrates.

Chuck Naill
December 19th, 2021, 06:33 AM
I just can't get away from the crass commercialization of this holy day. I am no longer a faithful Christian, but the importance of sacred birth and renewal and peace are deeply planted in me.

I should go on a hermitage this time of year.

GoFundMe?

j/k

Do any of you struggle with this like I do?

I do think finding time to be alone, for just a bit, is a way to collect thoughts and decide what is truely important for you.

In Dicken's A Christmas Carol, Scrooge comes to understand what is important. It is a good reminder for me each time I watch it. When he reconnects with the sister's son for a meal, that is the sweetest part for me.

The part about the little children "Want" and "Ignorance" might be particularily important for a teacher like yourself, and especially as this might be your last year before retirement. Anyway, I hope you find what you need this holiday season.

Chip
December 19th, 2021, 11:56 PM
Neither the holiness nor the commercialization have much effect on me.

We get in touch with friends, exchange cards and letters, give modest gifts, cook special dinners, hang up some lights, and donate to charity.

My only gripe is that Herself plays Christmas music for hours on end and insists on watching It's a Wonderful Life.

kazoolaw
December 20th, 2021, 07:37 AM
TS-

This has been a constant struggle since our kids were little, and opening presents took over Christmas morning. It spilled over into a revulsion to Christmas songs starting at Halloween.

Readers, feel free to guffaw at will: part of the answer came from TV. We would faithfully watch a Charlie Brown Christmas every year. Nice story.

And one year the obvious hit us: the Christmas story from Luke was the point. And so we began each Christmas at our house with the reading from Luke. As the kids, and grandkids, got older they would read too.

2:1Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled. 2:2This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 2:3And all went to enroll themselves, every one to his own city.
2:4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; 2:5to enroll himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.
2:6And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. 2:7And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
2:8And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 2:9And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 2:10And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: 2:11for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. 2:12And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
2:13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
2:14Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

No, it wasn't a complete antidote, but along with pushing aside the commercials, and the gift/dollar count, it helps. So does helping people in genuine need: a gift of food, time, money with no expectation of recognition or return.

Thank you for sharing what we often struggle with. May this message, along with a time of quiet and reflection, bring you the joy of the Child's birth and the promise of renewal.

Merry Christmas.

TSherbs
December 20th, 2021, 03:02 PM
Thanks @kazoolaw, same to you. I travel tomorrow to get together with my children (adults now). Blessings. And the world pivots back towards the light tomorrow....

Chuck Naill
December 20th, 2021, 04:02 PM
Happy Winter Solstice everyone.

Empty_of_Clouds
December 21st, 2021, 01:19 AM
Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

TSherbs
December 21st, 2021, 06:52 AM
Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

You're always backwards.

My back yard:
https://imgur.com/a/2qqcpTY

Chuck Naill
December 21st, 2021, 11:29 AM
Thank God for small backyards. I used to bush hog every Summer weekend.

Chip
December 21st, 2021, 12:53 PM
I mow and clip around the house, to reduce the fire hazard. But we have five acres and try to keep the native vegetation intact which draws the local wildlife: moose, mule deer and whitetails, foxes, coyotes, weasels, rabbits, birds, snakes. The neighbors to the north ravaged their place with year-round horse grazing (see the difference in cover across the far fence.) Most of the surrounding public land is badly overgrazed by cattle.

https://i.imgur.com/liroYoa.jpg

Chip
December 21st, 2021, 12:56 PM
The worst pain I've suffered so far is sorting out the tangled wee lights so I can hang them up. And then discovering that half the string is dead. Which wasn't evident when I plugged them in to test.

Chuck Naill
December 21st, 2021, 04:31 PM
I mow and clip around the house, to reduce the fire hazard. But we have five acres and try to keep the native vegetation intact which draws the local wildlife: moose, mule deer and whitetails, foxes, coyotes, weasels, rabbits, birds, snakes. The neighbors to the north ravaged their place with year-round horse grazing (see the difference in cover across the far fence.) Most of the surrounding public land is badly overgrazed by cattle.

https://i.imgur.com/liroYoa.jpg

Better you than me. Looks like a nice place, however.

Chip
December 23rd, 2021, 03:45 PM
The saddest part for me (aside from the way our old neighbors keep moving south or dying off) is that the annual Christmas potluck at the local saloon and dancehall is cancelled, owing to the plague. It's been one of the bright spots of living in the outback.

https://i.imgur.com/GCNTqTC.jpg

Chip
December 25th, 2021, 04:47 PM
After a dry December, we got a Christmas Eve snowstorm that continued through the day, about 10 inches of medium-dense snow. We opened gifts, mostly stuff we need in fancy wrapping and some dog treats. The bright spot was that I finally got to try out the battery-powered snowblower I got last fall, and it's great: no struggle to start, no racket, no noxious fumes, heaps of power, and it's lighter and easier to control than the old Husqvarna I fought with for years.

Since we have 100% solar power, I'm clearing snow with the power of the sun. . . just a lot more quickly.

Chuck Naill
December 26th, 2021, 04:41 AM
After a dry December, we got a Christmas Eve snowstorm that continued through the day, about 10 inches of medium-dense snow. We opened gifts, mostly stuff we need in fancy wrapping and some dog treats. The bright spot was that I finally got to try out the battery-powered snowblower I got last fall, and it's great: no struggle to start, no racket, no noxious fumes, heaps of power, and it's lighter and easier to control than the old Husqvarna I fought with for years.

Since we have 100% solar power, I'm clearing snow with the power of the sun. . . just a lot more quickly.

That's great you can use solar. I am assuming your weather results in sun most everyday?

manoeuver
December 26th, 2021, 06:46 PM
Christmas has remarkable leverage toward joy or pain.

Grateful to be on the happy side of the lever this year. hope any on the other side can wiggle over to this side by next year.

plenty of room.

Chip
December 26th, 2021, 07:25 PM
That's great you can use solar. I am assuming your weather results in sun most everyday?

Here's a map. We're in SE Wyoming.

https://i.imgur.com/YluIqlJ.jpg

At almost 8000 ft., we have really clear air in winter, which helps. Our arrays are freestanding, so I adjust them to the sun angle, which also helps. At a steep angle for winter, they catch more sunlight and the snow slides off.

TSherbs
November 20th, 2022, 03:47 PM
A year later, it's still November, and here we go again...

Chuck Naill
November 20th, 2022, 03:58 PM
https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

dneal
November 20th, 2022, 04:12 PM
https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

Youtube?

You know where I’m going to go with this though…

TSherbs
November 20th, 2022, 04:37 PM
https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

?? What is this?

Chuck Naill
November 21st, 2022, 06:44 AM
https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

?? What is this?

Fields of November. I find it a beautiful, soothing tune for this minimal sunlight time.

Lot of things occurred in November, some said and others wonderful like Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Tomorrow is a friend's birthday, but also that day most of us remember when JFK was assassinated.

And this week is Thanksgiving. I've spent the holiday with large family members present and also alone. It is what you decide it is. For me, this time of year is neither great nor painful, but for others it is not a happy time.

TSherbs
November 21st, 2022, 07:29 AM
It's the beginning of the Christmas season that unnerves me. Here comes all the crass consumerism right at us ....

Chuck Naill
November 21st, 2022, 07:39 AM
It's the beginning of the Christmas season that unnerves me. Here comes all the crass consumerism right at us ....

Yes, I understand your point and agree. Cash is always appreciated.

Chip
November 23rd, 2022, 04:56 PM
Having grown up in Las Vegas, I made an early peace with commercialism, crassness, greed, and other American vices.

Not going along with the whole schtick and staying happy makes you feel. . .special.

Chuck Naill
November 27th, 2022, 08:13 AM
Having grown up in Las Vegas, I made an early peace with commercialism, crassness, greed, and other American vices.

Not going along with the whole schtick and staying happy makes you feel. . .special.

If staying happy is the goal, I agree.

Joincte1993
December 1st, 2022, 12:18 AM
But during a grieving process, the holiday season—two long months of just emotional suffering and social isolation—is neither more lonely nor less happy. Dragon Horoscope 2023
(https://www.zodiacsigns-horoscope.com/chinese-horoscope/dragon-2023/)

Chip
December 1st, 2022, 04:35 PM
Even when I was very young, I didn't believe in the whole Christian savior myth, nor in Santa Claus.

But I loved the atmosphere, the family meals, the lights and the tree, the presents, and the whole great game of let's pretend.

I get flashes of those warm feelings to this day, which helps me tolerate my wife's mad yearning for Christmas music, which she plays for hours on end.

Other than that, I don't pay much mind to it.

TSherbs
December 1st, 2022, 07:07 PM
Christmas was huge to me as a kid, and I fully believed in Jesus miraculous birth (and gestation) and in Santa Claus. I believed into 2nd or 3rd grade and was really saddened when my mother told me the truth (I remember the moment well). I was kind of pissed off and hurt, too.

Chip
December 1st, 2022, 10:48 PM
Not having that experience— disillusionment— meant that I didn't feel the loss of anything.

Church was just a weird place where my mother dropped me off in my best clothes and I got into fights after Sunday school. So I started hiding in the cloakroom until I heard the hymns and then fleeing to a nearby park to watch the birds and squirrels.

Santa? We didn't have a chimney. A big fat guy and a bunch of reindeer would make noise, but all I could hear was my parents fumbling to wrap presents, etc.

Guess I had a reality-based childhood.

TSherbs
December 2nd, 2022, 05:58 AM
Ha, my mother taught the Sunday School (then hooked up with the minister and married him). I couldn't hide. I used to sit in the sanctuary and imagine playing baseball in it. I used to wonder if I could throw a ball from one corner to the lectern and ping it off the minister's head. I was always getting into trouble by thowing things (rocks, snowballs, crabapples) and damaging stuff. I once skipped church (with my brothers) to spend the offering money in a run-down arcade/candy store called "Junkies." My dad thrashed us, so I didn't do that again.

Chuck Naill
December 2nd, 2022, 06:12 AM
The holiday songs and tunes have begun on my public radio station. I had the thought that when this is all over, we won't want to hear them until next year. One exception is the theme from Snowman, Walking in the Air.

Chip
December 2nd, 2022, 11:04 PM
I sort of enjoy Bing Crosby.

My most-hated Christmas tune is what I call the Sodomite's Carol, or the Rump Song.

Pa-Rump-a-Bum-Bum.

Feckin' indecent!

Chuck Naill
December 3rd, 2022, 06:02 AM
George Winston's December is my favorite album.

Chip
December 5th, 2022, 10:50 PM
George Winston's December is my favorite album.

It's a pleasant collection. Herself loves it, too.

A seasonal album I like is Fifteen Wild Decembers by Geoff Smith and Nicola Walker.

TSherbs
December 7th, 2023, 01:30 PM
I just can't get away from the crass commercialization of this holy day. I am no longer a faithful Christian, but the importance of sacred birth and renewal and peace are deeply planted in me.

I should go on a hermitage this time of year.

GoFundMe?

j/k

Do any of you struggle with this like I do?

rinse

repeat

dneal
December 7th, 2023, 02:07 PM
https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

Youtube?

You know where I’m going to go with this though…

The gift that keeps on giving.

Chuck Naill
December 7th, 2023, 05:38 PM
Jesus was not born during the Jewish Feast of Hannukah. He was conceived at this time and born during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Chuck Naill
December 7th, 2023, 05:39 PM
Jesus was not born during the Jewish Feast of Hannukah. He was conceived at this time and born during the Feast of Tabernacles. Back to Winter by George Winston.