Its overrated and there are a lot people who've never been JWs who think the same.
Fun for kids perhaps
First Xmas? Or older traditions? 🎄
by Theonlyoneleft 17 Replies latest jw experiences
-
Finkelstein
-
Theonlyoneleft
Thank you for your thoughts, experiences and ideas. It’s good to hear your stories.
Certainly agree that Xmas traditions need to be cultivated during life and maybe if these are not Xmas time doesn’t pull the same emotions if there was family traditions to look forward to.
Agreed too to the commercially side of it, but I enjoy that too. 🤣 The advertising on tv, the stores loaded with things we might not need.... the silliness of Xmas.
Latest years have been more of making gifts that mean much more than bought ones. Keeps me busy over the “don’t have nothing to do hours”.
There was one year when my children were younger that we banned all bought tree decorations. The tree was really bare.
In the weekends running up to Xmas we spent hours doing popcorn strings and homemade pom-poms to hang. We had such fun!.... but the mess 🤣🤣🤣🤣
To those doing Xmas first time I would say find something that it becomes a yearly tradition for you and your family. Becomes part of your fabric to be followed by future generations. We have adopted so many things from friends and added our own.
Two years ago around Xmas time I did a collection of food for our local food bank. Went really well. This year I’m still thinking... need to do something new. 😁
Hope that whatever you do over those holidays days is spent doing something you enjoy with those you care about. Happy holidays & happy times. ☺️☺️
-
snugglebunny
This was posted many years ago by Duncan. I think it was his first Christmas:
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING (17/12/00)
This weekend was Christmas Shopping for myself and Mrs Duncan. We spent the day in crowded shops, fighting our way through the press of bodies, securing this years must-have toys and gadgets for our kids.
At one point, we split up, I needed to go to the cash machine to get some money. I walked to the end of the street where the bank was. Of course, the week before Christmas, there was a big long queue. My heart sank, but I settled down for a longish wait.
The line moved slowly. Step by step I got closer. At last, I was only second-in-line. But the chap in front seemed to be having some trouble.
“Oh bugger!”
“What is it, mate?” I said.
“I think the machine has run out of cash”
Typical! Still, not unexpected this time of year, I suppose.
Behind me a voice called out “Hey, what’s the hold up?”
“No money!” said the chap in front.
“What?”
“ NO MONEY!” he shouted back.
This caused a stir.
“You hear that? There’s no money! NO MONEY!”
People started pushing and shoving. A fight broke out. People were shouting.
“There’s NO MONEY!! Our cards are worthless! The system has collapsed! It’s ALL OVER!”
There were now people fighting and rolling around in the street. Blood everywhere.
Next thing I knew there was a tremendous sound of smashing glass, as two people came through a shop window, gouging and biting at each other. A car went out of control and ploughed into a group of people who had also stated fighting. Everywhere people were screaming that their money was worthless.
A woman appeared at an upstairs window and started throwing her gold and silver into the streets.
The sky suddenly filled with lightning, and the buildings all around seemed to simultaneously burst into flames. More vehicles in the street went out of control, and then suddenly a great fissure opened in the ground and people and children and dogs and ladies on bicycles and 50’s –style American cars started falling into it.
I noticed that some people near me fell to the ground as their eyes started rotting in their sockets, I could just about hear what they were saying, it was truly pitiful, their anguish:
“Why , oh, WHY didn’t we listen to Jehovah’s Witnesses when they called? We were too proud and wicked!”
Another chap further down the street was calling out. He has a serious head wound from some sharp implement – and he also had the eye-rotting thing. His teeth, though, looked fine. I could see he was gnashing them, so it was a bit difficult to make out what he was saying, but it sounded like:
“ I was too stiff-necked to listen to the message! I always knew Christmas was a Babylonish false religious festival, but I allowed my wickedness to blind me to the truth! Oh, for a Watchtower!”
This astonishing scene of devastation was playing itself out in front of me, and I had just about counted a thousand at my left hand and ten thousand at my right hand who had perished, when all of a sudden, the fellow who had been at the front of the queue said:
“Oh, no - wait a minute! I was keying in the wrong PIN number. It’s perfectly okay, after all!”
The skies cleared and the fighting died down. People’s eyes seemed to clear up and various groups of folk were standing up and brushing each other’s clothing off. People were smiling and wishing each other Merry Christmas.
The line reformed and we stood around watching the arrival of the emergency services moving in to deal with the casualties.
I got my cash and rejoined my wife, and we went to the carol service at our local church.
-
Theonlyoneleft
Snugglebunny, how funny 😂🤣🤣.
The end is near indeed of.... the chip and pin.
Thank goodness for online shopping and for the touch and pay. Phew, Amargedon diverted for another few years.
Funny story, thank you for sharing it.
-
Pete Zahut
Thank goodness for mothers like yours and now you.
Kids may not seem to be noticing the extra things that their parents do for them but they're taking it all in and one day, they'll look back on it all with appreciative eyes.
I was raised JW so I never had any Christmas memories, only secretly admiring the decorations and music and dreading the inevitable "why no Christmas" questions from the kids at school and in the neighborhood and having to stick up for Jehovah by sitting alone in the school library while everyone else ate goodies and exchanged gifts.
These days, (somewhat guiltily) I put up tiny white lights on the topiary trees at our front entrance and I put lighted pillar candles (battery powered) on a wrought iron candelabra, up in the arched part of our living room window. I still have a little trouble doing this, due to the residual guilt left over from being a JW, even though I know better.
Last. year we had a family dinner during the holidays. My wife is a fantastic cook and set out a beautifully laid table of food and deserts. Our youngest son and his girlfriend (also and X JW who he met at college) brought over presents for all of us. What was meant to be a family dinner, turned out be sort of Christmas like. Our oldest Son and his wife and toddler still attend meetings on occasion but had no problem with all of this. It was so nice to have the whole family there and seeing our grandchild being spoiled by her doting family and our sons goofing around like they did as boys. It was heartwarming to see their young ladies getting along so well and being such good friends.
This year we have a second grand baby and just found out there's another one on the way. We're looking forward to more of these occasions but are unsure how our Son and his wife will explain all this to their children as they grow up. There's always going to some awkwardness surrounding the holidays, I'm afraid. I know we'll never recognize them as having anything to do with religion. Rather, they will simply be memorable family occasions.
-
Theonlyoneleft
@pete
firstly thank you for your warm felt thoughts.
I was lucky mum did those little things even under pressure of my older siblings that did asked her to stop, but was her house, her rules and thank goodness she didn’t buckle!
You are one busy grandad ☺️. I’m glad you had your family all around you, memories they will remember with fondness I’m very sure.
I cannot wait for grandchildren... if doesn’t come soon I might be inclined to adopt some. 🤣🤣 I’m still in my 40’s but I feel I’ve waiting for ages!
this is all what Xmas is about, mainly gold treasured moments speckled here and there filled with laughs, silly jokes, some drama(of course) and the rituals added to the mix. I love it. There’s no excuses of... “I’m too tired” or “ I need to meet my friends after work mum” or “I’m watching tv mum.” Nothing of that. Even the cat gets prezzies. 🐱
By my family experiences still in, I know that some witnesses do xtra stuff for their children around the year, but going into school and have to feel ostracised by the lack of is something that all jws kids go through.
My biggest one was my science tests filled with red ink by my teacher. The evolution answers to the questions where just red crossed and given zero points. The word IF in the beginning followed by the answer. My teachers crossed all of it.
I have a niece that stopped studying (yippee thank goodness!!!)
I asked her what made her stop going to meetings as she replied “ they are all liars, they do something in the Kingdom Hall and something else when they don’t go.”
She’s only 16. This year she’s going to be joining us for Xmas and she’s said to be very excited. “My first Xmas ever.”
I’m glad that she’s coming to us and she’s out. Her life is a complicated one and some happy moments that’s all sometimes we need to keep us all going.
thank you for sharing and I wish you extra good memories with all those grandkids.
-
blondie
As some have said here, not all non-jws celebrate X-mas, perhaps the holidays without the religious connotation. But now it is our choice, no one is telling us we should or shouldn't. I know people who never go to a church on X-mas or talk about the so-called reIligious origin. Just a nice time to be with family you care about (I can see that some family members might not play nice). I like the lights, ours are white on our porch and trees in front (we don't have any evergreen trees. We do it the Disney way and have white lights up all year. We got our inflatable snowman this year, snowmen are not symbols of Christmas.
Can jws build snowmen?
*** g90 4/22 p.23***
My daughter, Bethel, was a gift from God rather late in life. We had a kind of storybook relationship. From the time Bethel was an infant, we did everything together. We crouched in fields to study Jehovah God’s artistic flair as we looked at the wildflowers. We made snowmen. —Charles Leibensperger
-
Xanthippe
I like the pagan evergreens at Christmas. A real tree smelling gorgeous, holly on my front door.
Our first time celebrating we bought each other very cheap presents, lots of second hand books now we could read whatever we liked! I've tried to stick to that, expensive presents just burden people.
One memory I have, walking home from my daughter's school play, warmed by sherry and mince pies. She looked so beautiful dressed as an angel with her long blonde hair.
I'm not religious but I loved that she could do what I could never do as a child and just join in! The frost was sparkling like diamonds on the pavements, the stars were so bright. A memory I will always treasure.