How Christian is your Christmas?

Christmas belongs to the Christians now. But the Romans brought the worship if Mithras here, and 25 Dec was his birthday. Also the old festival of Yule (21 Dec) has given us most of the traditions that go along with Christmas.
It can't be the birthday of Jesus, because no sensible shepherd would be looking after their flocks at night at that time of year. :-)

Our annual staff do is referred to now as “the end of year” get together. It is in recognition of the diverse beliefs and cultures of the many staff.
I don’t think that you need to go to church to be a Christian. And if you are atheist you can still enjoy decorating your house with lights and tinsel - because it is the darkest part of the year - in the Northern hemisphere at least.
We can all choose to refrain from the shopping madness or embrace it.
I personally think of Christmas time as a “bookend” to the year and manage to squeeze some joy out of it, one way or another.
I do think more shops should close on Boxing Day where possible or maybe give staff who are parents/grandparents that option.
As Bob Cratchet said: it is only once a year!

Found the photo of the Baby Jesus wearing pink, see upthread for details!

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ for me. I try not to let all the frenzied shopping distract me though I think sometimes it can be good that at least people might think of the meaning for it all. Maybe. I attend a Presbyterian church most weeks of the year and it is lovely to hear the old Christmas carols from now on until January. Even for non believers ( most of my family included) it is a time of joy and gift giving and love which has to be a good thing.

A lot of people celebrate the season for their children. Sometimes Channuka falls very near Christmas so all round it’s a reason to celebrate.
My Christmas starts at 3pm on Christmas Eve when Kings College sing carols and lessons live on Radio 4.

If I was well, Mass Christmas Eve, Advent Sundays, Epiphany would all be Mass to go to.
Mass on Christmas morning is a highlight for families with their children.

Brought up C of E and always went to church as a family every Sunday and on Christmas Day morning.
Consequently once married I always had a crib scene, with characters added as the Christmas story unfolded.
One year I could not locate Baby Jesus in the manger, so hastily bought a replacement.
Granddaughter aged 3 whilst visiting, looked at the newest addition to the scene and enquired why, if Jesus was a boy, was he wearing pink!
I’d no answer to that!
I’d not noticed but his swaddling was definitely of a pink hue!!
Every time I put the scene out now I’m reminded of that conversation, she’s 15 now, into boys and make-up! x
If I can find a photo of it I’ll post it.

My Italian nativity set comes out every Christmas, I've managed to add some bits to it thanks to eBay and I even have a pair of Italian gypsies in it now. GS2's school will be doing nine lessons and carols so I'll be going to that, and I'll have a couple of CDs of carols in the car. On Christmas morning I put on a CD of a Christmas service from St Mark's in Venice and I'll hopefully have a small glass of Vin Santo. Meanwhile DS will be muttering in the background!

I am a Christian and my Christmas will be a christian one. When my late husband was very ill I prayed for him to get better, when my late sister was ill I prayed for her to get better.

I believe in the afterlife and know I will see my wonderful husband and family again when I die. I love everything about Christmas, always have and always will even though we didn't have much money when I was young in the 1940's and 50's, Christmas was a special time, all our family together under one roof.

Our Christmas is like our everyday - Christian Catholic. From the first Sunday of Advent through to Epiphany - celebrations of Christmas.

Fartooold

We celebrate the Christmas Festivities despite me being a “Good Jewish Girl” we live in Christian society so we go with it. Have hopefully taught my lot kindness and despite their learning disabilities are very keen to donate to the homeless! Happy Christmas all of you.

And to you Fartooold.

Wonder if other Religions get demeaned as much during their religious holidays

Goodness me, of course not, NO!!

Who is demeaning it at all? No-one.

vampirequeen

Smileless2012

Good for Dan Walker Cabbie, if not for Jesus there wouldn't be Christmas.

But there would still be a mid-winter festival. We'd just call it something else.

Maybe,but it's Christmas. A Christian holiday, to remember the birth of Christ, demeaned by many , celebrated by those who believe in the true meaning.
Wonder if other Religions get demeaned as much during their religious holidays.
Good from Dan Walker. My little nativity scene will be on display in my window from 1st day of Advent.

I play carols all through December, and we attend a church carol service, plus a little Nativity set is part of our decorations, so as far as I’m concerned, although we’re not churchgoers, those are certainly Christian aspects of Christmas.

And like a pp, I love the Nine Lessons And Carols! To me it’s not Christmas Eve without that - accompanied by mulled wine and a mince pie, naturally.

It’s worth remembering that the Christian festival merged with the old pagan Midwinter festival, so IMO we have the best of both worlds.

Thank you escaped. I think there’ll be more than a little family events going on in your family too.

It will be especially lovely for us all to be together this Christmas. If only she could come home to live, but her ex will never agree, and she won’t leave her children. This Christmas will be the first with us all together since before Covid.

I suppose that would depend on what being a Christian means, and that would vary from person to person.

Your Christmas sounds Heavenly, madelene, if I'm allowed to say that!! And Cornwall at New Year, divine!

Happy Christmas Fartooold and happy Hanukkah too.

We enjoy both the Christian part of Christmas and the secular celebrations. We go to church during Advent and we light our Advent candle daily. We will go to the lovely evening carol service at the church nearby on the Sunday previous to Christmas, and we go to church on Christmas Eve at night. We no longer stay up to attend Christmas mass because as we’ve got older we find it tiring. We used to take our children to Christmas morning church, but we don’t go to church on Christmas morning now.

We celebrate with family on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day by meeting together at one another’s houses and sharing food and games (and a little alcohol.) We’re going to the pantomime with the grandchildren and we’ll be doing other things with them too.

I can’t wait for this Christmas because my daughter and three children are coming for four weeks from New Zealand. One week, over new year will be spent with her brothers and families at a big rental house in Cornwall. All together.

Fartooold

We celebrate the Christmas Festivities despite me being a “Good Jewish Girl” we live in Christian society so we go with it. Have hopefully taught my lot kindness and despite their learning disabilities are very keen to donate to the homeless! Happy Christmas all of you.

And to you too, Fartooold.

I always learnt the X was a cross and is therefore symbollically associated with Christ. But I'm more than happy to accept alternatives knocking about. ✝️

'Happy Christmas' to you too Fartooold .

Same as ginny and VP for me.

Daddima

escaped

Cabbie21

Yesterday Dan Walker on Classic FM , announcing a competition or something, asked people to text in with the word Christmas. He added “Not Xmas, put Christ back into Christmas”.

Always.

"Xmas” is a common abbreviation of the word “Christmas”. The “-mas” part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for “Mass”, while the “X” comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as “Christ”.
There is a common misconception that the word Xmas is a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the “Christ” out of “Christmas”. While “Xmas” is considered to be an informal abbreviation, and should never be used in formal writing, it is historically correct.

Maybe Dan should have done his homework!

Your own words or from a link? May I share this, please?

We celebrate the Christmas Festivities despite me being a “Good Jewish Girl” we live in Christian society so we go with it. Have hopefully taught my lot kindness and despite their learning disabilities are very keen to donate to the homeless! Happy Christmas all of you.