This piece really speaks to me as I'm currently in a relationship with a JW and they too don't celebrate Xmas. However he did attend my family's Christmas Eve gathering with me. I wish I could understand better these high control religions and how to help people leave.
Thanks for sharing & writing all that. Your heart & mind have had quite a journey. Made me Happy 🥰 to think about you sharing in the light, love, generosity & tender feelings that can come with "celebrating" Christmas. Christmas can be & is supposed to be a time we celebrate all the possibilities & eventual realities of peace & goodness & love that can be hoped for because of the Birth of the Saviour of the World. Like the angels said to the shepherds; ..."Fear not; for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Because of the birth of the Saviour & his sacrifice for our sins, all wrongs will be righted, all pain & heartache made up for, and the suffering we all hate so much to see...WILL come to an end. DITTO to loving Madjack's quote:....."we are spiritual beings having a human experience." SO TRUE!!😌
This piece warmed my heart and raised my spirits. We are not bound to the past, but forever strive to uphold the best of it and try to change the worst. I hope you and your husband had a wonderful Christmas. God Bless and Happy New Year!
A marvelous and redeeming article that can be applied to so much of the intractable positions of many that want to remember the evil that WAS rather than celebrate the good that IS. Thank you.
I am glad to hear that you found peace, happiness, and God -- and that you seem to have let go of bitterness. I'm sure it was very difficult to lose most of your family, and I wish you joy and hope in the years to come.
"we get to choose the meaning we assign to our experiences"... "they need not be tethered forever to the evils of an unchanging past". Very encouraging.
This is true but we don't get to assign meaning to the experiences of others. Jesus Christ was born and hence we have Christmas or Christ's mass. There's no changing that history no matter how much one loathes a Catholic. How sad that so much hate actually allows one to change the meaning of a factual, historical event. Also glad to hear that Megan has found her way out of the hate. And it didn't escape me that her tag line says lover of humans.
Reason #1 why I love this newsletter: it’s what the legacy press used to be. Open thought, an exchange of ideas, exploration of self discovery, freedom of religion, agree to disagree. Oh, and beautifully written!
The horseshoe theory applies so much to the respective crazy of the Westboro Baptist Church and the Secular Woke Church.
The further one gets from moderation, the further one moves towards the fringes. That goes for health, for mental well-being, for ideology, for religion; for every aspect of life.
If you eat too much, you become obese, and no matter what the Woke tell us, it's not healthy. Just like if you eat too little, your body will be in bad shape in a different kind of way. The way to be healthy is the way of moderation. Not too much, not too little; just enough to be right.
With religion, it's the same thing. For most people, it would be unhealthy to make your religion the singular aspect of your life, becoming a zealot, in the same way that to live completely without religion creates a hole in your soul that is most often filled with wayward ideologies or philosophies; like Wokeism and all its tenants.
If we apply this "Goldilocks" analogy to all aspects of our lives, we'll be calm, centered, healthy, and above all else, balanced people.
So sad how so many target children for brainwashing , and it continues through high school and college. In a better world, it would be a crime of at least shaming for those who offer an opinion to minors to not offer a fair counter-argument. In the end, society is better served if we have citizens who can reason through issues without pre-determined biases hard-wired during their adolescent years. Is that too much to ask of our elders?
I grew up in the Chicago area. Pine trees were used for "topping out" ceremonies. This was apparently a legacy of Norwegian construction workers who built many of Chicago's early buildings. It was widely understood that pine trees ("Christmas trees") were a pagan tradition. Everyone (including me) loved them.
This is a lovely sonnet of being happy with life, Megan, thank you. I was raised Lutheran and in college converted to what I am now--Jewish--but still have great affection for Christmas. I don't have to believe Jesus is the Christ in order to enjoy people's joy at this time of year and that the lights twinkle and the pines smell good--just like they don't have to believe in Rosh Hashana or Passover to think kindly of our holidays. Life is too short to wallow in the anger and misery that comes from assigning the worst to people you don't know. This story is a reminder that life is all right. Thanks again, Megan.
This piece really speaks to me as I'm currently in a relationship with a JW and they too don't celebrate Xmas. However he did attend my family's Christmas Eve gathering with me. I wish I could understand better these high control religions and how to help people leave.
Thanks for sharing & writing all that. Your heart & mind have had quite a journey. Made me Happy 🥰 to think about you sharing in the light, love, generosity & tender feelings that can come with "celebrating" Christmas. Christmas can be & is supposed to be a time we celebrate all the possibilities & eventual realities of peace & goodness & love that can be hoped for because of the Birth of the Saviour of the World. Like the angels said to the shepherds; ..."Fear not; for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Because of the birth of the Saviour & his sacrifice for our sins, all wrongs will be righted, all pain & heartache made up for, and the suffering we all hate so much to see...WILL come to an end. DITTO to loving Madjack's quote:....."we are spiritual beings having a human experience." SO TRUE!!😌
Hahahahaha. All I did was compliment the author on her insight and you attacked like a crazy person. Keep thinking whatever you like. I'm done.
This piece warmed my heart and raised my spirits. We are not bound to the past, but forever strive to uphold the best of it and try to change the worst. I hope you and your husband had a wonderful Christmas. God Bless and Happy New Year!
What a wonderful Christmas true story.
A marvelous and redeeming article that can be applied to so much of the intractable positions of many that want to remember the evil that WAS rather than celebrate the good that IS. Thank you.
I am glad to hear that you found peace, happiness, and God -- and that you seem to have let go of bitterness. I'm sure it was very difficult to lose most of your family, and I wish you joy and hope in the years to come.
"we get to choose the meaning we assign to our experiences"... "they need not be tethered forever to the evils of an unchanging past". Very encouraging.
This is true but we don't get to assign meaning to the experiences of others. Jesus Christ was born and hence we have Christmas or Christ's mass. There's no changing that history no matter how much one loathes a Catholic. How sad that so much hate actually allows one to change the meaning of a factual, historical event. Also glad to hear that Megan has found her way out of the hate. And it didn't escape me that her tag line says lover of humans.
Reason #1 why I love this newsletter: it’s what the legacy press used to be. Open thought, an exchange of ideas, exploration of self discovery, freedom of religion, agree to disagree. Oh, and beautifully written!
The horseshoe theory applies so much to the respective crazy of the Westboro Baptist Church and the Secular Woke Church.
The further one gets from moderation, the further one moves towards the fringes. That goes for health, for mental well-being, for ideology, for religion; for every aspect of life.
If you eat too much, you become obese, and no matter what the Woke tell us, it's not healthy. Just like if you eat too little, your body will be in bad shape in a different kind of way. The way to be healthy is the way of moderation. Not too much, not too little; just enough to be right.
With religion, it's the same thing. For most people, it would be unhealthy to make your religion the singular aspect of your life, becoming a zealot, in the same way that to live completely without religion creates a hole in your soul that is most often filled with wayward ideologies or philosophies; like Wokeism and all its tenants.
If we apply this "Goldilocks" analogy to all aspects of our lives, we'll be calm, centered, healthy, and above all else, balanced people.
So sad how so many target children for brainwashing , and it continues through high school and college. In a better world, it would be a crime of at least shaming for those who offer an opinion to minors to not offer a fair counter-argument. In the end, society is better served if we have citizens who can reason through issues without pre-determined biases hard-wired during their adolescent years. Is that too much to ask of our elders?
Apparently a few of them have decided to pop up here to gaslight us.
I grew up in the Chicago area. Pine trees were used for "topping out" ceremonies. This was apparently a legacy of Norwegian construction workers who built many of Chicago's early buildings. It was widely understood that pine trees ("Christmas trees") were a pagan tradition. Everyone (including me) loved them.
My judgment is that you are a sad pathetic joke.
This is a lovely sonnet of being happy with life, Megan, thank you. I was raised Lutheran and in college converted to what I am now--Jewish--but still have great affection for Christmas. I don't have to believe Jesus is the Christ in order to enjoy people's joy at this time of year and that the lights twinkle and the pines smell good--just like they don't have to believe in Rosh Hashana or Passover to think kindly of our holidays. Life is too short to wallow in the anger and misery that comes from assigning the worst to people you don't know. This story is a reminder that life is all right. Thanks again, Megan.
Very beautiful essay. Merry Christmas Megan!