Hey, It's almost Christmas!

[dremiel]

I’m finally getting excited about Christmas. Or, more accurately, I’m finally letting myself get excited about Christmas. Which is odd as no one was preventing me- other than, well, me! I truly don’t miss having holiday stuff (or Christian symbols in general) in the house. I was the prime mover behind the “If it this is Jewish household it should

Comments

[phantomminuet]

Maybe it all tracks back to the fact that in my youth we NEVER* had a Christmas tree until the 4th Sunday of Advent. That’s when we went and got it from the tree lot and strung all the lights and got ready. Christmas was the START of the holiday, the beginning of twelve days of celebration, not just an orgasm of presents.

That's one of the things I most love about being an Episcopalian now. The holiday is so damn frantic throughout December that I can't seem to concentrate on the spiritual significance of the Incarnation. Being in the Episcopal church means that I still have nearly two weeks after everyone else has hit the Christmas wall on Dec. 25 to enjoy the holiday and spend some time in quiet contemplation.

[dremiel]

Exactly.

Those three kings don't even get out of their wrappings until Epiphany and then we leave them out until Orthodox Epiphany since we have some stray Eastern Orthodox relatives (with whom we get to celebrate everything all over again two weeks later!)

And boy did I enjoy listening to and singing carols last night because I have avoided them thus far and am not burned out.

I find that keeping a Jewish home and traveling to my family to celebrate Christmas reinforces the spiritual and religious significance for me. It makes it special and familial.

[cbackson]

I'm a new Episcopalian, and I love this as well.

[cbackson]

Oh, I love this entry. My mother had an old Italian nativity with plaster figures (except for the camel, which was plastic, because the original camel had been fatally injured in the line of duty). I was allowed to play with it during Advent, but only to act out the Christmas story. I loved it SO much--I still remember Mary's pink dress and blue robe, and poor Joseph's missing hand...