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Man it feels good to say Merry Christmas!


mudflaps
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Remember being forbidden to say Merry Christmas?Well maybe forbidden is a strong word,could say you were looked upon as out of fellowship or whatever wayspeak s#!t talk they decided to use.

No more "happy household holiday" or sitting through another teaching on Jesus Christ or promised seed.

Do any of you have any stories of Christmastime in the way?

Merry Christmas!

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Not much. I heard about people getting reproved for saying the word 'Christmas' or 'Easter'. I remember LCM saying over and over "Merry Christ is dead!". But no actual war stories for me. We don't get caught up in the hype, but we have a tree with lights and ornaments. Kinda nice.

Outside our home and fellowship, however, almost nobody will say "Merry Christmas". They all say happy holidays, have a nice holiday, stuff like that. I notice this the most while working. This week and last week I'll be cleaning windows for the last time before Christmas day and when they either pay me or sign the receipt that's when they say something about the holidays. But usually not merry Christmas, although I wouldn't be offended if they did.

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Christmas was named for the Mass service held on that day- as was Candlemas and Michaelmas.

Being undereducated for his position, trained to make up whatever he wanted by vpw who did so,

and a major dipstick, lcm made up that "Christmas" was short for "Christ masSACRE", and

he said that was the murder of all the children by Herod's soldiers to try to wipe out

the Christ child (the Roman Catholic Church refers to those children as the "holy innocents"

and commemorates them in their Christmas Pageants.)

So, he (and other people) would respond to "Merry Christmas" with "Happy kill-Christ to

you, too". In twi, a lot of people did what they were expected and just believed whatever

nonsense came out of vpw or lcm's mouths. They were dipsticks, too. Most of them, however,

have grown up since then. Yes, Virginia, there is life after twi!

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Merry Stressmas is more like it. It's no holiday if it causes an increase in the suicide rate, and drives people with little money into further debt. Christmas does both of those things each and every year. Someone link that to the glory of the birth of Jesus Christ for me, please.

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"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.

"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'

"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.

"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

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Merry Stressmas is more like it.

Any event in one's life can be an opportunity to get more stress, and many of them

can be an opportunity for more joy. So long as you determine your expectations of

Christmas, you can choose not to get more stress from it (unless it's from working

during the holiday season-them the work IS more stressful because people are running

around like headless chickens December 23-24.

It's no holiday if it causes an increase in the suicide rate, and drives people with little money into further debt.

Christmas does not cause an increase in the suicide rate.

www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/suicide.asp

as for people with little money going into further debt,

that's true if people decide to go out and buy presents they can't afford.

Whatever happened to MAKING presents for someone?

This is the internet age- someone can "make" arts and crafts with love and caring,

or a "multimedia presentation" that can bring the family great joy,

or "make" something else or do something and make THAT a gift.

(A "gift" of volunteering to babysit can be HIGHLY appreciated by many parents. ;) )

Small children can be displeased about that, but small children are often displeased

with the world and need to be TAUGHT by their parents. One thing that needs to be taught

is what really matters. As for adults that can be displeased about that, they need

to grow up and learn that life is not primarily about the material goods that possess you.

Christmas does both of those things each and every year. Someone link that to the glory of the birth of Jesus Christ for me, please.

An event, in and of itself, doesn't "do things" to people.

There's a festival in Europe every year. It's celebrated in many cities.

In one city, they decide to celebrate it by running bulls through the streets.

Every year, people decide to run through the streets with them.

Every year, some people get hurt, and there's usually at least one death.

The holiday didn't injure anyone. People decided that they wanted to "celebrate"

it by risking life and limb, and they lost some of that.

The more mature celebrants don't do that.

St Patrick's Day, in much of Ireland, is a solemn day of "celebration." In many

other places, they "celebrate" it by getting drunk and throwing up. The holiday

didn't do that.

So, if people build up unrealistic expectations, they will be disappointed. That's

acceptable for small children for Christmas, but adults have little excuse.

If people do foolish things (like run around crowded stores like maniacs and

end up injured), THEY (and the other maniacs) did that, not the holiday. I've

never been in danger of injury no matter how many stores I've entered.

As to linking December 25 to "the glory of the birth of Jesus Christ", I can't

do that and will not try. The time of the year is wrong, and it was chosen as

the day for celebration almost arbitrarily, since people were already

celebrating that day.

However, I like the idea of remembering that Jesus Christ was born and celebrating

that, even if many details are wrong (no drummer boy, Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar,

etc.)

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Christmas was named for the Mass service held on that day- as was Candlemas and Michaelmas. Being undereducated for his position, trained to make up whatever he wanted by vpw who did so, and a major dipstick, lcm made up that "Christmas" was short for "Christ masSACRE", and he said that was the murder of all the children by Herod's soldiers to try to wipe out the Christ child (the Roman Catholic Church refers to those children as the "holy innocents" and commemorates them in their Christmas Pageants.)

So, he (and other people) would respond to "Merry Christmas" with "Happy kill-Christ to you, too".

If he did any of that when you were there, Wordy One, he certainly didn't when I was in rez.

He did say that "mass" was a celebration of death - but that was all.

In fact - "mass" is simply a variant of an old word meaning "meal" (like "mess" - a mess room isn't a messy room but one where one eats).

It's a "Christ meal" - a meal of celebration.

When I was in rez, there used to be a lovely decorated tree that would be placed in the entrance lobby to the OSC.

And Mrs W would give "holiday gifts" to everyone.

After going through a period of "Season's Greetings" - I don't care, will wish people happy Christmas, accept merry Xamas... I don't care.

Please just enjoy yourselves in a pleasant and peaceable way.

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I do enjoy the salutation too mudflaps.

Season's greetings is nice, Happy Holidays - these general terms work for me too because it is a season of varying holidays. I have friends of many faiths and assorted beliefs/non-beliefs and frankly many I work around or with that I have no idea what their faith is - so a broader greeting serves well.

But I'm a Christian, I celebrate the birth of Christ and no I don't buzzkill every conversation about it with "did you know Jesus wasn't born in December????"

I feel comfortable extending the greetings that represent me, "Merry Christmas" and enjoying the chance to connect with others in context. If anyone's offended I'll take my party elsewhere. If they want to be nasty about it, fuk 'em. :biglaugh: Leave it to Wayfers to make one of the most powerful times of the year a big drag.

For a lot of people "Merry Christmas" works regardless though - for many the merry in Merry Christmas is about the sharing part, the giving (and receiving!), community and family - it's a great time of year for everyone, or can be.

It's also a tough time of year for many as we lose loved ones or are separated in some way from the traditions we know and love - so a little tenderness goes a long way, to quote Otis Redding.

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For more years than I care to remember, I worked retail during the Christmas season. If a customer wished me a merry Christmas, I would respond in kind. If I didn't know what a customer's persuasion was, I might make some comment about how thankful we were that they put up with all the hassle to shop at our store. The object of the final greeting, after all, is to make the customer feel comfortable in coming back. Sometimes I would say something non-formulaic like "I hope you have a really good time during the holidays this year!" If I knew any of the personal circumstances of a customer,. I would work something personal into the greeting to help build customer loyalty.

Those things being said, it DOES FEEL GOOD to be free to say:

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HO, HO, HO!

Love,

Steve

Edited by Steve Lortz
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I do enjoy the salutation too mudflaps.

Season's greetings is nice, Happy Holidays - these general terms work for me too because it is a season of varying holidays. I have friends of many faiths and assorted beliefs/non-beliefs and frankly many I work around or with that I have no idea what their faith is - so a broader greeting serves well.

But I'm a Christian, I celebrate the birth of Christ and no I don't buzzkill every conversation about it with "did you know Jesus wasn't born in December????"

It surprised my wife to find out that the Christian Churches do not teach he was born on December 25th and all of the other errors you can come up with the commercialized Jesus scene..... Rather the discussion is vastly complex with different theories... I posted a quote on my Facebook from Ignatius in his letter to the Ephesians saying the star was an inexpressible light.... My question to my FB family was that could it be that maybe it was not an arangment of planets but it could be..... oh.... may it not be........a........ Miracle!

I don't know the answer. I wasn't just speaking about TWI I was speaking about all of the theories people have put forth (not trying to bring the subject up) but I was thrown down many posts of the good ole Sept 11th 3 B.C. by my friends of TWI.

My wife explained to me that 1st TWI taught her that God always obeys the laws of this universe and everything is explainable...... and

Concerning saying Marry Christmas they called it in her Fellowship happy ho ho days or something like that.... Marry Christmas was forbidden...

The whole concept of being lied to that the church taught a such inaccurate view of scripture in accordance to scripture was a wall falling down.....

To me as I look at it She is still learning to enjoy the festivities that were looked down upon in TWI.... I am sure she isn't alone.

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I work with the public. I prefer to say "Happy Holidays" because, not only does it encompasses a variety of belief systems, it projects the message over a larger period of time than one particular day. If they say "Merry Christmas" (and some do this as a sort of test.) I will reply in like manner.

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It surprised my wife to find out that the Christian Churches do not teach he was born on December 25th and all of the other errors you can come up with the commercialized Jesus scene..... Rather the discussion is vastly complex with different theories... I posted a quote on my Facebook from Ignatius in his letter to the Ephesians saying the star was an inexpressible light.... My question to my FB family was that could it be that maybe it was not an arangment of planets but it could be..... oh.... may it not be........a........ Miracle!

I don't know the answer. I wasn't just speaking about TWI I was speaking about all of the theories people have put forth (not trying to bring the subject up) but I was thrown down many posts of the good ole Sept 11th 3 B.C. by my friends of TWI.

My wife explained to me that 1st TWI taught her that God always obeys the laws of this universe and everything is explainable...... and

Concerning saying Marry Christmas they called it in her Fellowship happy ho ho days or something like that.... Marry Christmas was forbidden...

The whole concept of being lied to that the church taught a such inaccurate view of scripture in accordance to scripture was a wall falling down.....

To me as I look at it She is still learning to enjoy the festivities that were looked down upon in TWI.... I am sure she isn't alone.

Yeah, the date's a moving target, and the exact date isn't known although there's math and calendaring that puts it in September which is fine with me - me 'n' Jesus are Virgo's! Way too cool. And they used to call September babies "New Year" babies, being 9 months give or take, from the New Year. Watch out for the egg nog I guess.

As an RC doing life until I was about 18, I don't recall that it was ever promoted as the known date but rather the date it's celebrated globally, a date. For that matter I guess any date would do for remembrance. Early on the Way and VPW's rant about Christmas was that it wasn't the biblical date, was a pagan holiday instituted to pander to pagans and that most of the symbology including Santa Claus was all devlish hooky pook.

Putting a downer on Christmas is a serious kick in the nads if you're a kid though, hoping for something cool under the tree...I was an adult, young and old and every year I was in the Way though, we had a tree of some kind, exchanged gifts, visited families and enjoyed it. When we were in the Way Corps residence program we went home for the holidays and had a great time with family.

The manger, the shepherds, the Magi, yeah, I got it. But look at the Way - they ended up with a "WOW" auditorium, a Fountain of Living Waters, Memorials for VPW and his brother Harry, and an assortment of their own holidays that would choke a Hallmark Card stand. Traditions are just that and any society will have them. The Way just thinks theirs are better. Nothing new there.

I may not be the average but while I understood and digested the historical and biblical issues - hey, it's fuggin' Christmas. Have a good time or at least don't bring everyone else down if you don't want to. That's the way I felt about it. Still do.

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Enjoy, have a good time, have a drink or two or three... two drink limit doesn't apply.

Yeah, really. I don't drink a ton or get out of control, but it's nice to know I don't have to have some dumb@$$ legalism governing my actions. I'm better off without that.

Interesting - the veepster would blow by that out of his Drambuie bottle whenever he felt like it. Rules for the masses to keep them controlled, but don't apply to the elitists.

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And the irony? I now have very little reason to drink anymore since I left the Way.

LOL. How true.

I have always liked Christmas. But for a long time, I pretended not to, because of my involvement w/ twi. I led a Christmas "double life". :blink: I found ways and great people to spend Christmas with and have fun. Then I would return myself to the sour pusses. Any twi HO HO I experienced was dry, dull and depressive and usually concluded with a gift presentation being made to an arrogant, inept and unkind leader. We would applaud as if they really had blessed our lives all year. Their egos were fed, our hearts were starved for the kind and loving festivities non twi people were experiencing.

I will never waste another Christmas again if I can help it. (And I'm not talking about gifts. I'm talking about wasting time with Miserable Comforters).

I love the cheerfulness, colors, scents, sights, sounds and tastes of Christmas. I like how people try to be nice. I like gathering with kind people and the warmth and coziness we all share. I like wrapping paper and how pretty it is, the smell of a Christmas tree and the bright happy lights.

I love it and I say Merry Christmas as much as I can. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

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LOL. How true.

I have always liked Christmas. But for a long time, I pretended not to, because of my involvement w/ twi. I led a Christmas "double life". :blink: I found ways and great people to spend Christmas with and have fun. Then I would return myself to the sour pusses. Any twi HO HO I experienced was dry, dull and depressive and usually concluded with a gift presentation being made to an arrogant, inept and unkind leader. We would applaud as if they really had blessed our lives all year. Their egos were fed, our hearts were starved for the kind and loving festivities non twi people were experiencing.

I will never waste another Christmas again if I can help it. (And I'm not talking about gifts. I'm talking about wasting time with Miserable Comforters).

I love the cheerfulness, colors, scents, sights, sounds and tastes of Christmas. I like how people try to be nice. I like gathering with kind people and the warmth and coziness we all share. I like wrapping paper and how pretty it is, the smell of a Christmas tree and the bright happy lights.

I love it and I say Merry Christmas as much as I can. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

What a Great Story.......

On the funny side...

A Christmas double life.... ha ha ha ha....

So true So true

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