DFXK

What a delightful post. Thank you. Did you see mine above?

I have just had another chat with Santa. He is coming here with thousands of dollars worth of spirit (not the liquid kind). Our $50.oo commitment to each other is gonna be a rort!

I hope that you and your family and friends have a happy, joyful and peaceful Christmas.

Cheers
Kay

An excellent idea in principle, although I submit a modification. It is, quite simply, this: Ban the commercial Santa (or 'Satan' if you prefer) but allow the 'real' Santa to remain. Without Santa, do you really suppose that I would have experienced those childhood days when I received that rusty BMX, the asbestos ridden percussion drum (complete with treated-pine drum-sticks) or that boogie board that lasted a full eight waves before snapping in two? The nature of the gift was irrelevant (a pudding would have been sufficient), it was the magic of the gift's arrival that gave me the most happiness. Remove Santa from the commercial world or from any activity engaged in to further a commercial objective so that Santa will no longer be the distorted cruel posterboy of evil corporate minds who "home delivers for free", but rather an association with childhood years that enables people to look back and smile at the world they used to live in and to see more clearly where they are now.

By way of postscript, I make reference to a recent commentator and the apparent (by way of deduction), quote, "want" that jolly Father Christmas in him evokes. Oh yes, clearly it is all there - the long black leather boots, the uniform all in red, the fluffy white bunny trimmings. However I must (and indeed tentatively) suggest that this laundry is best aired in more "specific" forums.

Love, kisses, Christmas wishes,

yes.. the true spirit of Christmas.. something we should all strive for and to understand.

St Nicolaus story is a touching one, but I think we should dig behind that to the fact that he was described as 'Saint'....Nic.. i.e. He was epitomizing something else than simply human generosity.

Christ....mass of course is clearly the celebration of the birth of Christ. But as pointed out, in a considerably secular society, we have also focused on the 'tame' Santa "Now children, have you been good this year" kind of thing. If we had no other deeper idea to celebrate, this would indeed be a very useful and positive cultural myth.

The birth of Christ is truly something historically special. We date our calender from his life. But the concept of God incarnate as man, entering to the world we live in, sharing our struggles and trials, and identifying with us in humanity, is the ultimate 'reaching out' to others.

For me, as the day draws nearer, (tomorrow) the less I feel like being combative, digging my heels in, and 'winning'. If a terrorist put a gun to my head, my mood is more like 'go for it, and blessings on u' rather than anything else. The sense of closeness to the Almighty, is far greater than the fear of death. If I could embrace the whole list of 'user index' including even those who have been my harshest critics I would. 'Peace, and good will to all men'. First the peace, through reconciling with God, then, good will to all.
Its a natural consequence, an outworking of the inner experience.

Yes, I know :) "Some of us don't NEED that to be generous to others" well, neither do I, but it's not about need, its about something far more positive.
Quite apart from the Spiritual and Christ birth aspects of Christmas, it does indeed touch us at our most fundamental cultural and family roots.

I'm about to embark on a long journey by car, just in case for reasons unexpected, I don't make it back, Love to you all.

Bd, your fantasy knows no end. Chritmas, celebrating the birth of christ. What a load of rubbish, the bloke was born around August, there is nothing anywhere in biblical history that describes a virgin birth, nor a nativity scene. Chrstmas is just another way of trying to control people, by delusion. If it were a celebration of something worthwhile that people and children could relate to, then fine. But its designed to trap the young so that they can be indocrinated by the deluded religious and spend their lives entrapped in despotic violent illusions.

Bd, if christmas is such a good time for peace and joy, why is it the time of the year where there is a huge increase in violence, domestic breakdown, road accidents and death. Is it because the christian belief is really orientated to death and destruction, as its history and current followers show us by their works, that they hide behind a cloak of illusionary niceties.

Why can't you speak truth instead of fantasy. Must religion always live within lies and false interpretation. If any of you had half a brain, you would concede that your beliefs are based on lies and false history. What religion has done to those that may have had access to knowledge beyond normal understanding, is to distort and destroy anything that they may have said, that may help humanity understand their place in existance.

The veracity of all you say, is borne out by the factual truth of your convictions, not what you want us to believe.

Why do people who do not believe in Christmas readily accept Christmas public holidays?

Nice question kal, but if people taking christmas holidays when they dont believe in christmas are hypocrites, I guess that makes us all hypocrites - I mean who really cares about when the queen was born....