The true meaning of Christmas...

solas

I just got back from doing a little Christmas shopping, getting all the neccesary deco's and waiting for the kid to get here to start dressing the tree, The christmas spirit is kicking in, so I hope you don't mind me sharing.
I'm not a practiscing catholic, I don't go to church if I can help it but christmas time brings back lots of memories from childhood and it's one time when I really do sit and think about the meaning of christmas.
While I understand the celebration of the winter solstice goes back to before christianity, for me the message remains the same..it is the season when we celebrate the birth of light.

wishing you all a peaceful Christmas. (whatever your faith)

.....Christmas reminds us of the great spiritual ideas that Jesus taught, which cannot change throughout the ages; they belong to every religion, every person, everyone who has ever lived or ever will live. Jesus expressed two great universal truths; first, that we are surrounded by a Divine Presence; second, that there is a Law of Good that responds to our faith in It. That is why he said it is done unto us as we believe...

We must realize that each of us at the center of his own being does meet the living Spirit. What we celebrate at Christmastime is not just the birth of a traditional figure, not just the birth of the greatest man who ever graced this world with his presence, but the birth into human consciousness, into each one of us,of something transcendent and immediate and effective and available -- the Divine Presence revealing Itself to us directly, personally, and intimately.

It seems that we should think of this birth in our own consciousness as a realization of love, of truth, of beauty, and of peace. And we should be filled with awareness of the Divine Presence in everything and in everyone. For surely this is the meaning of Christmas.

Ernest Holmes
From "The True Meaning of Christmas"

Yoda

For me, the richness of the Yule is that it is a celebration, quintessentially European, which dates back to the Ice Age. The Tree we bring into our homes represents the Year God, and we set lights upon him (in the German tradition; Englishmen set him on fire as the Yule log, and Lithuanians used to just go out in the forest and set a whole tree on fire) to urge him to wake the Mother who will bring back light and sun. The "angel" atop many trees represents her; some traditions replaced her with the star of the Nativity.

I think those ancient roots are richer and more evocative than the birth tale in Luke, but it matters little. It is the birth of light we celebrate at this time of year, in song and fellowship and little sweet cakes.... whether with a Christian veneer or not, it is the light that matters.

Glad Yule to all.

neuro-praxis

Hey solas...

I disagree with almost everything you said but hey, it's Christmas.

Hope you have a wonderful one.

solas

this is just what christmas means to me, I'm not here to ask for approval, I'm just sharing in the spirit of the season.
I appreciate Yoda's perspective and I thank him for sharing what christmas means to him.
Maybe you could share with us, what Christmas means to you

Excelsior

To me, Christmas means the celebration of the successful invasion of the occupied territories of Earth by God in the form of a little, ****ting baby. Its the spiritual D-Day, if you will.

solas

k..I can dig it, in a lord of the rings type of way


oh holy night..the stars were brightly shining...

Yoda

When do you put up your Christmas tree?

Excelsior

Soon after I buy it.

Manach

For me, Christmas means lights - most sparkling along a very small Xmas. tree (many, many cats in the house.)
There is the lights of the City Center streets, calling me to worship at the temple of Mammon and buy the extra special item that I never knew I could live without, and then one more to be safe.
There is the light of the Candle, the old custom of setting one on the window at Xmas. eve to guide travellers home. The same Candle that Faraday used to commence his series of Scientific lectures on the wonders of the seasons in 1827 : see "Can Reindeer Fly?: The Science of Christmas" by Rodger Highfield - very funny and readable.
Finally the light from the star of Betleham. Showing that there still is a little religion in the season.

Yoda

In Westport, the trees along the Mall are all lit, with strings of white lights in their branches. Tasteful white light buntings span the streets. No vulgar stars or words spelling out Marry Christmas [sic] or twinkly reindeer. I am happy about this tidy town. It's doing Christmas with taste, and without vulgarity.

Zombienosh

xmas to me, is about being with ur family and so on.
nothing to do with christianity for me.

mmcgaley

solas wrote:

That is why he [Jesus] said it is done unto us as we believe...


Ernest Holmes
From "The True Meaning of Christmas"

He did what now?

Red Robin

I am also a non-practicing catholic and have been searchign for weeks now for some alternative spiritual getherings that might take place around Christmas time. Being rammed into the back of a packed church listening to the same old readings, dusted down homilies and embarrased attempts at singing a couple of Hyms on Chrimstas Eve before heading to the pub just isnt doing it for me anymore. I know of many people in the same boat (particularly at this time of year) who would be intersted in some other form of spiritual gathering be it sitting under a tree for some prayers or a blessing at dawn on the top of a hill. I thought in this day of Google and the information highway that it would be easy to find out about such events, but sadly they just dont seem to exist. If anyone has any information on alternative ways to celeberate the spiritualiyty of christmas within a group around the Dublin area I would very interested in hearing about these.

Love and Light

kelly1

Christmas for me is all about celebrating the coming of Jesus, who is the Saviour and the Light of the world.

It's a time to reflect on our relationship with God and neighbour and examine our short-comings. It's a time to invite Jesus into our hearts and ask Him to guide us into love, truth, wisdom, charity, humility and hope.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Suff

Christmas to me evolve around having a tree in our house for 3 weeks! distribute decorations around the house, cooking the annual meal of Turkey n' stuffing, having the devine cinnamon perfume floating all around the house, watching national lampoon's Christmas vacation and ofcourse getting presents!

It's that time of year when being silly become enjoyable and being a Muslim doesn't stop me from enjoying it

philologos

Christmas for me is like kelly1 celebrating the role of Jesus Christ on earth. Advent gives us the time to reflect on the kingship of Christ before we can truly celebrate the day when He came down before us. The day is about sharing in family, etc in God's presence.

BrianCalgary

A celebration of the birth of the Saviour, Immanual God with us.

PS; I love excelsiors spin.:)

Run_to_da_hills

Thank God for the great hymns of the faith, which at Christmas time remind us of the wonderful Savior. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4IU5LJrQr8