What Is Christmas?

[RussH]

What is Christmas? If you ask this of ten people you will likely get ten different answers. Anything from highly religious, to completely secular. I fall in the catagory of both. I love the secular aspect of christmas; watching the christmas movies, the christmas songs, and the gift giving. However I also completely celebrate christmas as Christ-mas.

Ultimately, the heart of christmas is an expression of pure love toward the unlovely, or at least whom the world considers unlovely. I am one of those the world considered unlovely. And yet, Christ came to this world as a expression of God's love toward me.

So, although the world treated me with distain, God lifted me up, and christmas serves as a reminder of that.

Merry Christmas to all my friends here on My PTSD; God Bless.

 

[jd9900]

For me......this is what Christmas means. .....

 

[RussH]

@jd9900 That is my favorite part of "The Charlie Brown Christmas."

 

[jd9900]

.....*walks slowly to the mic.* .......

"Lights, please? *lowers head* ....

"...And the angel said onto them, fear not! For behold, I bring you tidings of great joy! This will be to all people. For onto you is born this day in the city of David a savior. Christ the lord. And this should be a sign onto you! You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clohes lying in the manger. "

 

[jd9900]

(...and THAT is what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.)

 

[Lucycat]

Hmmm my Internet is so slow I could not see the video :(

 

[jd9900]

Hope this helps....cite: Wiki.

"Linus Van Pelt: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.
[moves toward the center of the stage]
Linus Van Pelt: Lights, please.
[a spotlight shines on Linus]
Linus Van Pelt: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"
[Linus picks up his blanket and walks back towards Charlie Brown]
Linus Van Pelt: That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

 

[DMerish]

Ultimately, the heart of christmas is an expression of pure love toward the unlovely, or at least whom the world considers unlovely. I am one of those the world considered unlovely. And yet, Christ came to this world as a expression of God's love toward me.

I've never thought about Christmas being an expression of love toward the unlovely. Maybe that's a religious thing. I just thought Christmas was about loving everyone. Period.

 

[jd9900]

For me.....Christmas is about remembering why I love people; why I embrace Christ as that Savior. And instead of hating the sad memories it sometimes brings me I remember what love for Him, God and Humanity means to me. It makes me want to just do something nice for a stranger because of no good reason....it makes my heart glow.

 

[jd9900]

....Maybe I will die and find that all of my beliefs are wrong. That is okay with me, because my beliefs make me happy.

 

[RussH]

@Dmeerish The bible says that all have sinned, so we are all marred by sin, and therefore unlovely. Jesus came as an expression of God's love toward all men, although we have all been marred He came to love us.

In His ministry Jesus mininstered to all people, but the time I remember most was the lepers; the social outcast. There were ten who came to Jesus. He was not willing to judge them, nor did he treat them as outcast, but loved them and healed them.

For me, there have been plenty of times where people have chosen to not love me, but God has never taken that path, and Christmas reminds that God loves me.

 

[The Albatross]

“Christmas, my child, is love in action." ~ Dale Evans Rogers

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie

“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

“Yet as I read the birth stories about Jesus I cannot help but conclude that though the world may be tilted toward the rich and powerful, God is tilted toward the underdog.” ~ Philip Yancey

“At Christmas a man is at his finest towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season's here;
Then he's thinking more of others than he's thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime.” ~ Edgar A. Guest