~It's Beginning to Look a lot Like an Atheist Xmas~

.
In my adult life I have been asked many times, "Dyani, you're an atheist, how is it that you celebrate Xmas?"
.
Well that's a good question. However the very 1st time I was ever asked that I was quite taken aback. I had always assumed that I was celebrating Xmas the same way everyone else did, the same way I grew up celebrating it with my family. It had never occurred to me that others would celebrate it too much differently than I did, even though I did know that some people did a few "extra" things on Xmas... such as going to church.
.
Now before I give you my answer, let me start off by saying we're talking about today's "modern" Xmas. Forget the whole thing about December 25th not really being the date of Christ's birth due to circumstances under which he was born as described in the King James Bible & the Church wanting to supplant it's own holiday over what they referred to as a "pagan" holiday in order to further their movement blah blah blah. Let us also forget that most of the "important" symbols have been borrowed from other countries for reasons other than celebrating Christ's BD (i.e. the Xmas Tree from Germany being part of an Adam & Eve celebration, etc.) And finally let's forget the part of history where Xmas was actually banned because it was considered too wicked.
.
The Xmas I'm talking about is the one where Christians (in all their variates) celebrate (though celebrating Christ the other 364 days of the year as well, a time of extremely focused mass celebration in such a way that has a tendency to capture even the most wandering attention) the birth of Christ (the savior of mankind) on December 25th (for lack of a specific date laid out in the KJ Bible, & this being the date sanctioned by the Church, it seems as good as any so long as it's consistent--without a specific date, it isn't about the actual date anymore, but the meaning behind what is being celebrated... the date just brings us all together to celebrate the same thing at the same time in a very similar way).
.
So getting back to that original question. In answering it for the 1st time, I learned a great deal about how different I was. My parents were not theists, & what little religious ceremony my mom celebrated in Japan (where she was born & lived until she was a teenager) was not a huge influence on my brother & me. But yes, was always celebrated Xmas.
.
Xmas means family.
.
Has Xmas become too commercial? I guess it depends on what you consider "too" commercial to be. The way I understand it today is that the lights & decorations we hang both inside & outside our homes are no different than that which we hang for our own childrens' birthdays, only for this particular child's birthday a lot more people are helping out with the decorations. In my household we did the lights & tinsel as well. It was fun, colorful & exciting for us as kids. It was something for the whole family to get excited about even as we all stood outside in the dark in the cold & then ran across the street to stand back & admire that simple 1 strand of full-sized painted glass bulbs that lined the edge of our roof. It was beautiful & it made our house beautiful & nearly every night for that entire month we would all go out together & huddle across the street & look at our house for a few minutes.
.
Xmas means beauty.
.
Our real Xmas tree also had those same fire-hazard lights on it. Most of the time the needles that were touching the actual bulbs were brown when the time came to remove the lights & put the tree on the curb for the tree pick-up truck. But that tree was a major part of the holiday for us as it is with our Christian friends. The family packing into the car & driving to the tree lot. Going through tree after tree, sniffing them, feeling them for dryness, arguing over a full fat tree or a skinny see-the-trunk-through-the-branches tree. Tying the tree on the roof & driving it home where the trunk was chainsawed off & the thing was positioned in it's stand/cat water dish (ha ha ha ha!) That night was a big, huge deal. Xmas music was played & after dad got the lights on we (my brother & I) got to open up the ornament boxes & decorate--every ornament placed ever so carefully (whereas tinsel was tossed in a mass tangle). My brother would snuggle into my dad's lap & I would be in my mom's & we would look, just look at the tree & listen to the music. If you squinted at it, the lights reflecting off the tinsel made it appear as though you were looking into a night sky filled with rainbow hued stars.
.
Xmas means togetherness.
.
Over the month, presents would slowly appear; arriving in the mail & coming from neighbors, etc. Yes, of course presents seemed to be the climax of the entire Xmas celebration, I mean, who doesn't like presents... & for a reason other than your own birthday at that! As an adult, presents were just as exciting... until I had children. Then I became more excited seeing my kids get excited over their own presents than what I might get. But the giving of gifts, with us (the atheist family) isn't about malls & commercials & money money money, though it involves it. It is, just like when you get someone a present on their birthday, a way of showing someone you care about that you understand them & pay attention to them all year round by giving them something that appeals to their tastes yet reflects enough of yourself that they see both themselves & you in it. It never has to be expensive, sometimes it's just the best Xmas card you've ever seen as if it was created just for them & you to have a wonderful laugh, or cry, or long embrace. Or you know, it could be that bubblegum pink ipod with the personalized skin of their puppy pooping on your rug.
.
Xmas is giving.
.
I don't, to this day, feel a need to buy everyone I know a present. I didn't see a reason to participate in gift exchanges at school & don't feel a need to participate in gift exchanges at work either. I was always taught that you spent your time & money on presents for those people you had a real connection with, people almost like family. Neighbors who spent time at each others homes for barbecues, birthdays, super bowl Sundays; who watched your kids when you had to run out for an hour & who asked you to watch theirs while they did the same. If I was going to buy someone I really barely knew a gift, I would rather it be someone who is in need (if you can say that anyone is in need of a present) than possibly starting an issue at school or at the office by getting the wrong kind of gift for someone or slighting another person who thought you were "closer than that" or whatever. I also don't want to go bankrupt trying to buy every grandparent or third cousin a present even though I might only see them every 6 or so years while passing through their state just because it's Xmas. Acknowledging distant family members and people you may spend 8 hours a day with in a professional setting but never in a personal setting are the reasons those boxed sets of Xmas cards were created.
.
Xmas is also about watching out for yourself.
.
We had, & still have, a Xmas dinner. It's kind of like Thanksgiving Part II. You create a special feast (in my household it a lot of times involved Cornish game hens, lamb roast, sushi & potstickers) & then enjoy it together like you don't really enjoy the average mac & cheese with peas dinner on any other night. Again, the Xmas music will be playing in the background & for that momentous feast we got to light candles. That was also one of those few times we had a dessert after dinner like families always did on TV. You always want to starve yourself that day because you know what food's to come (especially since the whole house usually smells like it from dawn to table-time!)
.
Xmas is about being thankful.
.