Time for something new... (Page 5)

well said (as usual).

i am in the same boat as far as christ is concerned. i believe he was a great man, whether folks believe he was literally the son of god or not. his teachings would do everyone some good if they are taken with thought and compassion in mind instead of judgment (and as hollis said so beautifully, lets not judge and second guess god, eh?)

so, my point is that some make it out to be a holy christian celebration that has been corrupted. i believe that it is but one tradition, and a tradition which owes some of its celebratory practices to other religions. these winter celebrations all have similar roots and themes. it is a dark, and sometimes cold, time of year in many parts of the world. december becomes a month filled with stories of birth, enlightenment, hope, and faith. its a shame that these things are not at the core of our celebrations in the winter.

here's another tidbit talking about how christmas is heathenistic...and not just now (from http://www.religioustolerance.org):



Edited by autumn 2005-11-30 4:36 PM

no joke. look at this: http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa6.cfm

how could this ever be seen as okay????

Congrats Chippy!! Make sure you log it...


Edited by drewb8 2005-11-30 4:48 PM

we did this last year (heiffer) as a gift to my parents. in my family, we do very little gift giving. my brothers and i don't exchange gifts at all, 'cept for maybe some home made bread or kolache, or a bottle of wine. for our parents, we give either a donation or a consumable (wine, food, lotion, a service like a massage, etc.). with the four little girls, its harder to hold back. we try to keep things simple and only give toys that will grow with them. my parents give the girls a membership to the minnesota science museum every year.

my husband's family is slowly coming around to these ideas. because they live further apart, christmas and birthday gift giving are ways to express love over distance. starting last year, the brothers and their wives all draw names. we also all go in on a gift for each parent, so we can get them one nice gift they really would like instead of 3 or more smaller ones that are more tokens than anything else. i hope at some point we can reduce the amount of gift giving and focus more on getting to actually see one another.

wow. this is wonderful news. i hope it all goes well and you really don't have to take meds for the rest of your life. glad it isn't anything life threatening. will it be out patient surgery?