They saw my Xmas tree! What do I say? (page 5)

rebel8

Hi truckerann. Hope to hear more from you. Welcome.

Darth Yhwh

Well I haven't read all three pages, so hopefully this isn't a repeat.

Just tell them that it's not a Christmas tree but that it's your Winter Solstice tree. That's what I call ours and it buggs the hell out of my wife. LOL

BlackSwan of Memphis

Get one of those new upside down trees.

When they ask, say "oh no, this isn't a christmas tree, it's an anti-christmas tree"

or thrown a big sheet over it and tell them it's a form of artistic expression....

it is hard to come out of the holiday celebratin' closet.

This was the first year we did jack o'lanterns. We did it because I knew it was just a matter of time and (I sent my letters this week)

It's tough, yeah, but constantly trying to hide what you're doing, can be incredibly stressful. I did it for over a yr and it was hard. Not only that, but truthfully if you're wanting a warm fuzzy christmas, you might enjoy it better on all levels if you know that you're being upfront about it.

meagan

JeffT

Christmas 1988: the elders showed up at our door, Debbie didn't let them in, but we were really afraid they might have seen the tree, we were working on a DA letter but still had a lot of fear of the elders.

Christmas 1989: I think the three thousand or so lights I had on the outside of the house might have given us away. The best part was the response we got from our neighbors, who got to watch the whole thing unfold in front of their eyes. There are several families that have been immunized against JW's.

Jamelle

Some funny posts here! The idea of throwing a sheet over the Christmas tree when you have visitors made me think of the following option - if asked about the tree say "I was going to cover it up, but I didn't want to be guilty of hiding my light underneath a bushell!"

Seriously - I sympathize with your dilemna! I don't have to worry about my parents or family or any JWs stopping by to see me house all decked out for Christmas. Only once did that happen, when my dad came over to tell me that the family wasn't coming to my wedding. (Last time I saw him too - maybe the lights on the house freaked him out...lol

I say that if you can - embrace the season and experience all the joy you can from it. Witnesses lead such joyless lives. It seems to me that the celebration of Christmas is a polar opposite to the typical Witness mentality. IMHO.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

LittleToe

Too many funny comments on this thread to reply to, but I especially loved this one from Runingman - LOL:

Well, I'd allow for an uncomfortable pause, then say, "Merry Christmas?"

Rayvin: Until you start living, you're not living Daystar: Really your sis, huh? Way cool!

Sheepish

Seven: I wish I had the guts to print up a bunch of those pictures as cards, and use them as my Christmas cards this year. Utterly perfect!

Although there has been a lot of really good ideas here, I think the use of humor, especially, is really really important to fight the emotional tension this all brings.It reminds us of how stooopid it all really is.

It seems blaming it on your husband is the easiest thing to do, or jumping into the cold water and just being as forthcoming as you need to be, would be my second choice. I wouldn't give em anything. Let em ask.Seems they probably know, and will not push anything if they don't "have" to. I would try to explain to the child that it hurts their Grandparents feelings to talk about Christmas, but if the kid slips up, well, gosh he/she is only a kid and shouldn't be made to feel badly. THAT will really put a pallor over any Christmas joy. Make sure the child realized the problem is with their Grandparents,so his/her Christmas memories aren't tinged with JW tarnish.Don't forget children pick up on whatever is really going on in the house, so try to find a solution that will work for you, and get settled about it, so you can enjoy the season!

It took me a while to celebrate Christmas, cause my conscience was still tuned to the Witness Way. I gradually got free of the false guilt, and realized: You can't worship a pagan god by accident! You either are, or you are not. Nobody I know worships a tree (no offense intended to any druids out there) There is lots of info on how ridiculous the Christmas prohibition is, read up and be at peace about it.

AlmostAtheist

>> You can't worship a pagan god by accident! You either are, or you are not.

OMG! I never saw that very obvious point before. Cool!

Of course, the JW's would say that whether you are truly worshipping or not, you are offending Jehovah by having his trees in your home to commemorate the birth of his son. (He's kinda touchy, could do with Zoloft I think.)

Dave

hillbilly

'Egg nog....Anyone?"

~Hill

Sheepish

Course I am coming from a Christian point of view, but bringing trees into the home was never forbidden in The Bible... Decorating them, turning them into idols and worshipping them was.

One of my favorite scriptures is from Hosea 14:8 "...I am like a green fir tree...

They saw my Xmas tree! What do I say?

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