Christmas: Most Painful Holiday of the Year

[Chuck Naill]

https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

[dneal]

https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

Youtube?

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

[TSherbs]

https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

?? What is this?

[Chuck Naill]

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]

It's the beginning of the Christmas season that unnerves me. Here comes all the crass consumerism right at us ....

[Chuck Naill]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Chip]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

George Winston's December is my favorite album.

[Chip]

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]

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]

https://youtu.be/urjXm3hZsmY

Youtube?

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

The gift that keeps on giving.

[Chuck Naill]

Jesus was not born during the Jewish Feast of Hannukah. He was conceived at this time and born during the Feast of Tabernacles.