I thought this needed to be clarified considering all the Christmas talk, and decoration and such I have seen lately. Christmas has never been my favorite holiday, maybe when I was quite little, but not for a very long time. I like the true meaning, celebrating Christ. I have a hard time with the pressure it puts on people, the kids that don't get presents, the whole commercialized crap pot it has become. A month of Christmas is plenty, go ahead, the day AFTER Thanksgiving and start dealing with Christmas, though I will likely still wait until December. No other holiday starts getting celebrated 2 months in advance, it's ridiculous. Don't tell me it's because this is the most important holiday or some other bull crap like that. Easter celebrates Christ too, the resurrection, which, to me, is equal or even more important than his birth. At least with Easter we wouldn't be cutting out another IMPORTANT holiday by trying to celebrate it early. (Granted if we celebrated early it could possibly overlap with Valentines Day, however I don't like that holiday either [though that is another post] and it is definitely not an important one).
Thanksgiving is an important holiday. It helps us to realize all the amazing things we have to be thankful for in our lives. We often forget how lucky and blessed we are, and Thanksgiving helps people all over the country remember. I know we should be thankful every day, and I try to be, but Thanksgiving is something that gets people really thinking about, thinking about giving thanks. It hasn't really lost it's meaning over the years, like Christmas has, it remains pretty much pure in it's meaning. Be Thankful! So why, when this holiday is so amazing, do we try to forget and start to shove in thoughts of Christmas (not true Christmas, it's never true Christmas, it's always the commercialized present giving super stressful fest Christmas) before Thanksgiving even happens? Really you find it necessary to listen to songs about reindeer, shop, and put up a tree instead of trying to be thankful? How selfish can you be? Some might say "Well I am thankful for songs about reindeer and shopping and putting up a tree." Okay, well good for you, but it's not really the same, is it? It gets you thinking about 'Santa' and presents and stuff like that. Does it get you thinking about true Christmas, Christ and the spirit of giving? I think not. You know what would get you thinking about Christ and the spirit of giving? Thanksgiving and celebrating it. I mean the words it is composed of is Thanks and Giving for crying out loud. A true fan of Christmas, and what it should really be, will take time to not skip Thanksgiving, to give it the time it deserves, because then, and only then will you be in the right set of mind to celebrate Christmas the right way.
Disagree if you want, but I am pregnant and crazy, so I think I can take you.
P.S. Nicholle and Minda,
Tim, Shawn and I made a deal, we are boycotting everything Christmas until Thanksgiving, so that message on facebook might remain unanswered for a bit.
2 comments:
You forgot to mention the not so pretty parts about Thanksgiving. Why is it that we become gluttens and gorge ourselves because we are thankful? And why is it neccesary for many to sit around as a couch potato and watch football ALL DAY LONG.
And the parts of Christmas I adore. The Selfless acts of service so many render to others during the holidays. The Symbolism of our Savior in everything Christams if you take the time to look. The Opportunity to teach our Children how beautiful it is to give to others. The beautiful music that shouts praises to our Savior and King.
Whew good thing it's not :). I'm not ready for it to be December 10th, we don't have his presents yet!
But, in that same thought, the year Malachi was born was the best Christmas I've had for a while. One of the reasons was because we knew we were going to have a baby and got everything done early. And kept other things low key. I didn't get decorations out before Thanksgiving, but shopping was done before that. It made it much less stressful for me, and allowed me to focus on other things. In the quiet moments with my brand new baby I could contemplate the birth of another baby.
I too think it's weird to have Christmas things in stores before Halloween. And I put up my Thanksgiving decorations out in November. But sometimes there is a reason to think about Christmas before Thanksgiving.
And another reason is too, if we want to help out those in need, which is a great idea, we have to have things turned in at the first of December, so we do have to decide soon if we'd rather do that then sibling gifts. My ward had to turn in all their refurbished dolls to the DI the end of October. Just sayin'...
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