I've posted this information in previous years, but given the holiday season,
it's worth repeating.
Celebrating the holidays can be a very good thing. Why?
Well, NOT celebrating holidays tends to break up families in subtle ways. Let's face
it - EVERYBODY is committed and busy. Arranging schedules to take a day to visit
Grandma or cousin George is difficult because you and your wife work, and the kids
have school and jobs at the mall. That's where holidays come into play because nearly
everyone has a day off. Finding other days to visit is like pulling teeth.
Don't blame worldly people for 'making a big deal out of Christmas'. They - unlike
many JWs - may VALUE FAMILY LIFE - and realize that NO HOLIDAYS CELEBRATION =
THEY AREN'T FAMILY ANYMORE! If you don't talk, eat, visit, and hang out with your
relatives regularily, you aren't much of a family anymore. Why do think the Watchtower
loves shunning so much? Because it works so well in breaking up friends and families!
Don't imitate the Watchtower with your family!
And presents? Ever hear of a Native American custom called 'potlatch'? Giving gifts
tends to promote and preserve emotional ties. It's involvement with family and
friends - things and events that get remembered. THIS ISN'T BRAIN SURGERY, it's simple
human interaction that creates bonds between people - who would otherwise forget
and just go about their business.
After many decades of being a Witness, I testify that, the more zealous you are,
the more emotionally isolated and stunted you tend to feel. People are just distant
objects - 99.9% of which will 'soon' be slaughtered by an angry and endlessly selective
God.
Let me live my life over again, I'll gladly accept the boring dinner with goofy
distant relatives and presents I don't like. I'll sit quietly in the back seat of the
car without complaining about the long ride to get there. I'll send cards to people
I don't remember and dump coins in the Salvation Army kettle for drunks I don't
think about. It's all OK.
It's about family - and friends - and normal human contact - with warts and all -
undiminished by the strictures of a cold and uncaring 'organization' ( When did the
term 'organization' ever make you feel warm and fuzzy inside?????)
Happy Holidays to All
metatron