Why We Don't....

Note: This is an attempt to let you in on our beliefs regarding the celebration of Christmas and why they are.  My hope is only to explain myself in a way that would be fully informative and respectful.  It is not, in any way a judgment on your traditions, beliefs, or practices. 

Biblically: I'm unaware of any instance in the Bible were Jesus's Birth was celebrated on a specific day. There is little doubt that December 25th has nothing to do with the timeline of Jesus's actual birth.  It would seem from the bible that during the time of Jesus's birth the weather was warm and dry because the shepherds were still out in the field with their sheep (probably sometime in September).  So why is December 25th so special?

Traditionally: There are many pagan holidays that were/are celebrated during this time of year.  Most of them having to do with the sun starting to come back to life after the solstice (the days beginning to get longer).  In fact many of the traditions that Christian families practice during their celebrations came from these earlier pagan celebrations.  Including:

• Gifting of presents
• Gluttonous eating and drinking
• Lighting candles
• Kissing under mistletoe
• Bringing cut trees indoors
• Caroling -though at the time they were obviously different tunes having nothing to do with the Christ child.

Socially: This holiday seems to put exclamation marks between the "haves" and the "have-nots".  While the children in Africa get a little shoebox of trinkets our children are opening hundreds of dollars worth of stuff that will probably break in a few hours/weeks/months.  Not to mention those kids working 12-18 hours a day for next to nothing (and often times in abuse-full situations) to make all of the stuff that is bought.

Environmentally: Every year I see hundreds of beautiful trees leave our area to live in somebody's house for a month and then get taken to a landfill.  Houses are lit up as much as possible skyrocketing energy consumption.  Tons of new toys, clothes, and shoes are made causing more environmental pollution and waste. And anyone can see the overflowing trash bins the week following a Christmas celebration.

So what do we celebrate? We celebrate Jesus's birth, life, and sacrificial death.  We celebrate the anticipation of his return. We celebrate the changing seasons of the year and of our lives. We celebrate growing older and the love that Jesus has brought to us through friends, family, and community.

Mostly we celebrate with our everyday lives.  When we do celebrate with food and gifts (or treats and one of my good friends calls them) we try our best to make sure they are environmentally friendly, socially conscious, and typically home made.