I miss!!!

Muslimwoman

Muslimwoman

Coexistence insha'Allah
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I was thinking today about the christmas holidays - not the religious celebration but the family, presents, too much food, twinkly lights Xmas. I really miss it and Islam has no equivalent. My family have always kept the German tradition of the winter holidays and I miss St Nicholas Day and a full month of 'happy'. I miss the Christkindl markt, trudging in 2 feet of snow clutching a warm glass or gluehwein as I shop. I really, really miss it (that may be because I am due to fly back to Egypt just before St Nicholas Day).

Has anything changed in your life that has left you missing something?

What is Christmas like where you live?

Salaam
 
I in no way whatsoever agree with christmas... In any religious sense...(Pretty much like 98% ? Or some insane majority rate...) I am just in it for the family and gifts thrown upon me in a worshipping style lol... I like:

The crappy old music that is truly crappy... lol From like back in the day when I was 1 - 6 years old lol...

The crappy old hand made jumpers! I freaking love them!

Sittin around the fire... STUFFED from some good food I have cooked, with my family watching some christmas special... Awesome!!!

The weather! Snow, cold... Freeeeezing! Yet I am all snuggled and warm in side!

The TV Adverts! Oh they are freaking good.. Saw my first christmas advert last night.....

And the excitment of my wife when decorating... She loves to decorate the house with lights trees tinsel you name it.



Has anything chaned in my life that has left me missing something? Aye, my mind.
 
I had the same problem when I discovered Paganism and felt that I had to swap Christmas for Yule a few days earlier. It was truly horrible, I really missed it and I was out of sync with the rest of my family. So now I do Yule by myself and then Christmas with everyone else

Quite honestly, we were never into Christmas from the religious angle anyway so it makes little difference and there's no feeling like Christmas morning, especially now we have babies in the house again. Hypocritical? - yes. Years of conditioning that I should really try to get over? - definitely. Do I care? - no. I love Christmas

The flexibility of Paganism allows me the indulgence of only changing my life in ways that make me happy so I don't think there's anything else that I miss

Julia
 
Of all the things that I gave up to become a unitic....I miss blame the most.

How would I love to say it is my parent's fault that..... That it is the governments fault that I.... That it is my ex wife's fault that.... That it is my boss's fault that.... It is that other driver who ran the red light.... It was the fault of the police for not protecting.... It was my teachers fault for....

Master of your destiny, taking personal responsibility for your actions your life, your perspective and your world....yes I miss blame the most.
 
aye, i was thinking about Christmas three days back and the preparations that went with it! very merry!

Eid is either this Friday or Saturday and the food preparations are'nt nearly as fun as decorating a tree but i do love the stay-awake-till-the-next-day and the lovely cake and biscuit smells!

And i get to celebrate Christmas with my family as well! They just dont decorate the tree anymore!
 
Lol 17th, I can see you layed there glued to the couch, eyes redder than a santa suit, humming to yourself...

Ding dong merrily i'm high!! The christmas weed has grown

:)

For me its people I miss. Those I can never see again, and those I might never see again. Love you all!!

Tao
 
Oh thank you guys, I am so pleased it isn't just me and Julia I am pleased I am not the only one that knows I am being hypocritical but don't care. I just love Xmas.

Wil - blame, how on earth do you give up blame? You mean you can't even blame the dog when there is an awful smell in the room?

Xmas and chocolates - was is it about that? Any other time of year I can have a couple of chocolates and put the box in the fridge but at Christmas I just have to keep eating until I feel physically sick.

I am with you on the presents 17th, I just love presents and yes I like giving them but I like getting them more :eek:

I am wondering whether I should invent my own holiday and have a tree and puts lights up etc. It would have to be in the middle of the year so people don't get the wrong idea and of course it would be 45 degree heat outside but I love the twinkly lights. Any suggestions for a made up non religious holiday I can celebrate for a couple of weeks each July?
 
Francis king said:
american independence day? (lol)
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LOL

Erm, do you mind if I don't. Although if they are having a new independence that means their government will leave everyone else alone then I shall certainly be celebrating.
 
Hey, MW--

You could do what some here where I live do...they leave the Christmas lights up all year long! LOL--now lots of people make fun of this, as it is considered "trashy and redneck". But they don't understand that this is a custom borrowed from Mexico, where the weekend backyard parties are lit up by strings of colored lights. Even some of the swankier restaurants here decorate this way. Very pretty!

Just a thought....

salaam...

InPeace,
InLove
 
Muslimwoman said:
Wil - blame, how on earth do you give up blame? You mean you can't even blame the dog when there is an awful smell in the room?

I am wondering whether I should invent my own holiday and have a tree and puts lights up etc. It would have to be in the middle of the year so people don't get the wrong idea and of course it would be 45 degree heat outside but I love the twinkly lights. Any suggestions for a made up non religious holiday I can celebrate for a couple of weeks each July?
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Festivus, the festival for the restuvus.

Blaming the dog for the stench in the house? Isn't that like blaming the wall for being there? Search and blame the person that didn't let the dog in? Or the one that didn't let the dog out? Or the one that fed/allowed the dog to eat that which is rotting in its intestinal tract? All a waste of time to me. It stinks, I have a choice to be there or not, blaming anyone or anything has exactly what benefit?
 
InLove...I knew we vibrated to the same Jungian song somehow. I've got white lights up in my kitchen area all year, and sometimes when a string burns out, I put up multicoloreds. I agree, they lift the inside spirit in me.

wil...My friend, I believe that you've beem watching way too many Seinfeld reruns.

flow....:p
 
i don't miss christmas at all whatsoever since my family since as long as i can remember could never afford one. never did have enough money for that sort of thing. then i find out that the majority of these so called holidays are of pagan origin, i mainly steer clear of them so that i don't i worship false gods. just my thoughts. i love the cold weather though, but where i live it just doesn't last long. the most probably is, what? 3 weeks? and then when it is cold, its muggy or it is a rainy cold. i guess i am the way i am due to geographical reasons? oh well...
 
Muslimwoman said:
I was thinking today about the christmas holidays - not the religious celebration but the family, presents, too much food, twinkly lights Xmas. I really miss it and Islam has no equivalent. My family have always kept the German tradition of the winter holidays and I miss St Nicholas Day and a full month of 'happy'. I miss the Christkindl markt, trudging in 2 feet of snow clutching a warm glass or gluehwein as I shop. I really, really miss it (that may be because I am due to fly back to Egypt just before St Nicholas Day).
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Leaving aside the issues around paganism and Jesus actually being born on whatever date (July the something? I don’t know…)….

I find it strange how “Christmas” has been / can be separated from the “festivities” that you mention, MW. It seems to me that for many supposed “Christians” (not all obviously) Christmas is pretty much a secular occasion. Yes, it will be promoted as such by businesses to get people to spend and consume vast amounts of stuff, but people aren’t exactly averse to indulging in it are they? I know people who would describe themselves as Christian for whom Christmas does ONLY mean the holiday aspects of the occasion, and the religious basis does not enter into it. I find this very strange. I know of just one Christian who treats the occasion as a religious one and (entirely understandably to me) finds the way it is “celebrated” by most so-called Christians in a western society to be totally disgusting. Christmas is supposed to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus I thought – but you’d be hard pressed to find this on most Christmas cards. Do other religions’ celebration days and festivals get their religious aspects marginalised and secularised? I suspect not.

s.



(sorry if I did this rant last year, it's a perennial gripe of mine :rolleyes: )
 
Snoopy said:
Leaving aside the issues around paganism and Jesus actually being born on whatever date (July the something? I don’t know…)….....Christmas is pretty much a secular occasion. ....I know of just one Christian who treats the occasion as a religious one and (entirely understandably to me) finds the way it is “celebrated” by most so-called Christians in a western society to be totally disgusting. Christmas is supposed to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus I thought
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Namaste Snoop, appreciate and empathize with the rant.

Truth is we can't leave the pagan aspects aside really can we? As a celebration of Christ birth, it was marginalized from the beginning when 12/25 was selected as the date. It was selected to counter and bring in those celebrating the winter solstice, just as the Sabbath was moved to Sunday to form a separation from the Jews and an alliance with those worshiping the Sun.

Yes Christmas is secular....last year I was lambasted for pointing out that the Sunday nearest to Christmas is typically the second largest day for Christians to show up at church....but since Christmas fell on a Sunday I expected a smaller than average turnout across the world as proof the secular (opening presents and partying) would be more important than attending a service.

I personally enjoy the heck out of the contemplation of the Christ spirit and the mind of Christ growing in me...and the reminders of same both at Christmas and Easter....and in a lot of ways, the materialism, the concept of giving, caring for one another, helping out at the holidays....it coincides..we may have to look for it, but it does...

as with anything...be the change!
 
Hi Snoopy...As you noticed elsewhere I have an affinity for back-in-the-day comedy recordings...you know...like the one you earn royalties from in your dotage.

There was a Stan Freeburg recording made in the 60's titled, Green Christmas. I'll bet you could find it in a vintage vinyl store across the pond there, or even somewhere on the net.. He was a master satirist and knew how to deftly skewer the cultural trends of the times, in this instance the secularization of the Christmas holiday season.

I have found that listening to comedic recordings may sometimes compensate for the temptation to rant, and IMHO, the best of the genre were made in the 60's and 70's. But, then again, sometimes ranting is still the best medicine for what ails one. Just a thought .

flow....:rolleyes:
 
flowperson said:
There was a Stan Freeburg recording made in the 60's titled, Green Christmas. I'll bet you could find it in a vintage vinyl store across the pond there, or even somewhere on the net.. He was a master satirist and knew how to deftly skewer the cultural trends of the times, in this instance the secularization of the Christmas holiday season.

I have found that listening to comedic recordings may sometimes compensate for the temptation to rant, and IMHO, the best of the genre were made in the 60's and 70's. But, then again, sometimes ranting is still the best medicine for what ails one. Just a thought .

flow....:rolleyes:
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I've heard of Freeburg but never heard stuff by him. Maybe I should go looking in the local dumpsters while I'm trying to find some more books too :).

s.
 
InLove said:
Even some of the swankier restaurants here decorate this way. Very pretty!
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Salaam habibty

They do that on the med and most holiday resorts too, I love it. Night time, the twinkly lights, soft breeze - ooooo goosebumps. Great idea, I may just say what the heck and go for year round twinkly's. :D

wil said:
Festivus, the festival for the restuvus.
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Love it Wil, my new July holiday is now called Festivus. It has no religious significance whatsoever and simply celebrates .... twinkly's. That is it, it is the celebration of enjoying celebrating when there is nothing to celebrate.

LeoSalinas22 said:
i don't miss christmas at all whatsoever since my family since as long as i can remember could never afford one. never did have enough money for that sort of thing. then i find out that the majority of these so called holidays are of pagan origin, i mainly steer clear of them so that i don't i worship false gods. just my thoughts. i love the cold weather though, but where i live it just doesn't last long. the most probably is, what? 3 weeks? and then when it is cold, its muggy or it is a rainy cold. i guess i am the way i am due to geographical reasons? oh well...
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Hi Leo, I am so sorry you didn't have special family Xmas's, that one stopped me in my tracks. Do you want to join me in celebrating the joy of twinkly lights? I just love snow but it is years since I have played in really deep snow - oh no another thing I really miss.

Snoopy said:
Leaving aside the issues around paganism and Jesus actually being born on whatever date (July the something? I don’t know…)….
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Rant away my friend, it has no religious significance for me, I just like the lights and all the chocolates, oh and the presents and yes I am 42 years old but my Mum still sends me a stocking to Egypt. :eek: I am never going to grow up (hopefuly). :D
 
Muslimwoman said:
Rant away my friend, it has no religious significance for me, I just like the lights and all the chocolates, oh and the presents and yes I am 42 years old but my Mum still sends me a stocking to Egypt. :eek: I am never going to grow up (hopefuly). :D
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It seems to have no religious significance for many Christians either :eek:...

...which is how my Sikh friends can participate as "fully" as the "Christians" do, since the Christian basis for the festival has been largely removed (in the west at least).

s.
 
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