Good article. Thank you.
An interesting article...when I was growing up, the Christmas tree went up the week before Christmas, and came down on Jan. 2nd or 3rd or so...that was my moms way...
When I first married, we put the tree up usually about the second week of Dec. and my husband, said that we should leave the tree up until Jan. 8th or so, relying on his grandmothers Catholic tradition...
Nowdays, we put our many Christmas trees up beginning the first week in Dec. and leave them up through all of January...thats just the way we like to do it...
In my neighborhood, there are two houses, which put on some very spectacular Christmas decorations in their front yards...they are just across the street from one another...somehow it looks like a friendly little competition...they have so many decorations out front, that we have taken to calling them 'House a'fire 1' and 'House a'fire 2'....because they are so very bright, they do look as if those houses are on fire...they both put their decorations up the week before Thanksgiving, ,and then rip them all down the day after Christmas...
Personally I hate to see the Christmas decorations come out as soon as the Halloween decos and candies are taken of the shelf...I am a senior, so I just remember the times, when the day before Thanksgiving, the stores were all in their fall attire...then on Wed before Thanksgiving, and probably on Thanksgiving itself, the store employees worked overtime, to change their store from its usual look to a Christmas wonderland...it happened overnite, and to a child, it seemed like magic, the magical wonder the comes at Christmastime...
But I see, traditions change, and now the Christmas decorations come out sooner and sooner...I have been to Costco in mid-August, and already see the Christmas decorations...I suppose in time, you will be able to buy your July 4th decos, along with your Christmas decorations...
I like the title. I was already planning to use a similar title for my Bible class next week . . .
"Advent: Infrequently Asked Questions about the Squeezed-out Season"
The church, unlike the culture, says don't jump into Christmas quite yet. It is the season of Advent not Christmas. Advent is about getting ready; about patience; about finding God in the most unexpected places. Advent is
counter-cultural. The culture I think treats this time like a fast food restaurant. We want everything instantaneous while the church says Christmas is more like a gourmet meal. It will take time to prepare.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. My wife was reading a women's magazine article about forming "holiday traditions" in families. One of the people quoted went on at great length about how they celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas starting on December 12th, with gifts and the whole works.
This was reported without a hint of irony. I had to see it to believe it.
Celebrate the Twelve Nights of Christmas and have a 12th Night Epiphany Party!
We are doing that and doing the teaching that goes along with the Wise Men, Bethlehem, frankincense, gold, myrhh, the names of the wise men, gifts to the child Jesus and Lamswool punch and Crown cake!
We observe Advent with fasting and prayer. We put our tree up the evening of the 4th Sunday of Advent but don't light it until Christmas Eve. We leave it up through Jan. 6. We celebrate Ephiphany with a party and bless our house.
St. Nicholas leaves chocolate coins on the children's shoes on St. Nicholas' Day.
I do hang a wreath on the door so we don't look too strange to our neighbors.
I don't understand the problem. The original date for Christmas was chosen to replace a pagan sun-god festival. There's nothing sacred about doing it a certain time of year. If we truly followed the early churches, we would keep on re-Christianizing the seasons.
In our church we used the first 3 weeks of November as a time of fasting and penitence. We started our feasting on Thanksgiving and will continue until Christmas. It honors the pattern of fasting before feasting yet allows us to give new meaning to the festivities. Many have already commented how different it's felt to participate in Christmas festivities this year. There is greater meaning, we enjoy the carols with everyone else, and the fasting created a space that allows us to enter in with true joy.
As a side-note, did you know that Caesar Augustus inaugurated a 12-day celebration called Advent to celebrate his birth? The early church just took that secular party and made it about Jesus.