Hi. I hope I am not rushing the season . . . and I certainly don't want to be a Grinch and steal anyone's Christmas . . . but ......Can we talk about presents . . . or not presents?
What would happen if we didn't have any presents? Wouldn't it be just like what happened in Whoville? Christmas came anyway! There was singing and love, and Christmas came just the same!
Can we establish some new traditions? What do you think? How do you feel about this?
6 comments:
Like Christmas in Iraq?
http://www.uso.org/
Donating to support our troops?
I don't remember if Beck and Vic started it, or if we started it together, but our family now has a tradition where we just draw one persons name from the family. Then, within a designated price range (usually between $5-10) you have to make your person a gift. We have found that our children enjoy Christmas much more and are less fixated on what they get. People usually have to get creative and put a lot of time and effort into things, which makes these gifts more special.
There is also another tradition I learned about last year, which I would love to start in our family, that has to do with getting ready for The Savior's arrival by having each person place a piece of straw into a trough (spelling ?) every night in order to make His bed symbolically warmer and softer. Although the straw is real, it is meant to represent acts of love and service toward others. (You are supposed to secretly draw names once a week and keep your deeds between you and The Savior as a humble offering of your love for him.) It usually lasts the whole month of December, with Christmas Eve being the last night.
Though our traditions may vary, I think we should each ask ourselves a few questions about the things we do first, in order to make sure that they are in keeping with the true meaning of Christmas. Things like: Whose birth are we celebrating here, and who should we be honoring with our gifts? What kinds of things truely please this person? Anything rooted in an excuse to have fun or indulge ourselves really has no business being a part of honoring our Lord and Savior.
I think it is a good idea! I gifts distract from the whole point of the holiday. I think it would be better to spend time with family and think on the Savior than spoil it with gifts. As I was walking through Costco the other day, this same idea came to me as my son proclaimed "I want that!" when we passed by different toys. It wasn't like he really wanted those particular toys, he just wanted "stuff." My kids already have too much stuff. I thought this year I might just give my children books. But I don't have to give them on Christmas.
I also thought about doing a good deed type of thing. As I was going over what crafts to do for RS I thought it might be neat to do an Advent Good Deeds Jar. So, every day of December would have a good deed that my family and I could do. I think that would bring the spirit of Christ into our lives better than exchanging gifts.
Let's consult the Magic Conch Shell...
Chris: "Oh Mighty Magic Conch Shell, what should we do for Christmas?"
Conch Shell: "Nothing"
Chris: "The Mighty Conch Shell has spoken! We are to do NOTHING for Christmas!"
I'm with you. . .the whole thought of shopping makes me cringe. We should have a Dickens Christmas where we get an orange for Christmas and everyone is just happy about it.
Would that be one of those chocolate oranges? SWEET!
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