this will be my first also. i really want to put up a tree and all the decorations but i feel as though i'll deeply distress my family who are still in. they may come to visit and get the shock of their lives. i don't know if they'll be more distressed that i'm celebrating or that i still haven't faded back in. at any rate, i have children who i want to give a special season to.
First Christmas
by yxl1 33 Replies latest jw experiences
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breal
Christmas is one of my favourite holidays. The first year out I celebrated with a non-JW family & became hooked. Around December 1st our house now looks like the holiday threw up in it and our Christmas tree stays up forever. One year I had my tree until mid February and it became a fire hazard. Christmas decorations everywhere. Love the lights, trees & traditions. Went to the singing christmas tree a few times but found it too religious. We go each year to one of the special gardens or the zoo where they have sleigh rides, trains, and major christmas light displays...Drink hot chocolate and take a new friend each year.
Now we have a tradition to have a turkey dinner either Christmas eve or Boxing day each year to invite all the other friends who don't have family in the city to spend the holidays as a big group. Lots of fun!
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mizpah
Jehovah's Witnesses are not the first to reject Christmas because of its pagan origins. Many early Protestant churches once viewed Christmas and other "Catholic" holidays as unacceptable. Puritans refused to celebrate it for the same reasons. I remember years ago seeing an old Baptist publication that condemned Christmas as not being "Christian."
So, for those who choose not to celebrate, there is a tradition that is much older than the Watchtower Society that avoided all that was considered "materialistic" and "unchristian." The choice is up to the individual. But if one chooses not to celebrate, one will be among other Christians who made the same choice.
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AuntieJane
Mizpah, While you have let go of the Watchtower's control over your free will to a large extent, you seem to still be in a mindset that there is something bad about celebrating Christmas. But now your source for your decision is an old Puritan and old Baptist teaching, etc. Don't get me wrong, that is perfectly fine with me and I am most happy when anyone is able to release themselves of the WTS mindset.
But as a Christian, (maybe I'm assuming here, I really don't post much or know each of you as well as you seem to know each other), it would seem that a better choice would be to embrace the season at the level you can not only grow from it personally but that you can set an example for others, such as your grandchildren. Putting up a small Nativity, attending some kind of church service (to expand your horizons beyond Kingdom Hall); hosting a family dinner beginning with a prayer, starting a family gift exchange of homemade gifts, taking holiday food to those who are alone, or better yet invite them to your home... there are so many ways to celebrate and let go of the "pagan" trappings...and not give in to the commercialisms. Because isn't setting a Christian example the important thing? I totally agree with you that Christmas is too commercial but there are personal ways we can each make it a really special time and teach others loving kindness by our own embracing of the holiday.