The True Meaning of Christmas
For Me
What does Christmas mean to you?
The traditions?
The pace and pressure to get everything just right?
Maybe it’s the sales.
Or maybe it’s the gift-giving, seeing the look on children’s faces when they open their presents for the first time.
Maybe it’s the symbolic meaning. Maybe it brings you closer to Christ, or to whatever you worship.
For me, it has become something simpler, humbler, and more rustic. That’s why I chose the image above, created with the help of ChatGPT and the WA Imager.
Christmas should not be an event, a spectacle, or a performance. All of those things have slowly hidden what I see as the true meaning of Christmas.
In the past, what became Christmas time marked a season when people drew together around warmth and light, often a fire, in the darkest part of the year. The power of that time did not announce itself loudly or demand attention the way the modern season does. It was quiet.
Communities gathered not only for warmth, food, and camaraderie, but in the hope that the darkness would pass and the sun would rise again. Community was not everyone arriving at once out of obligation. It was people coming and going, continuing their lives, yet still gathering to affirm that each other mattered, that everyone was needed to survive. Even that surly so-and-so on the edge of town. Everyone was welcome.
That is what belonging to a community looked like. Not store-bought gifts exchanged out of obligation or tradition, but people coming together in warmth and fellowship. It should not matter what belief you follow, the color of your skin, which side of the tracks you were born on, or how much money you make.
Christmas is not about any of that.
The best way I can express what it is about comes from Christ Jesus in the Bible, when he said (and I paraphrase), “This one command I give to you: love everyone as I have loved you.” This is not a direct quote, so please don’t be offended.
Christmas is not only a time to gather for companionship. It is a return to something simpler, a time when being together was enough. When warmth, shared food, and shared presence were all that was needed to say that hope is alive, and that the sun will rise again.
JD
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Recent Comments
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Genesis chapter 3 describes the "Fall of Man," where Adam and Eve disobey God by eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Key themes include:
Disobedience and Sin: The narrative centers on a willful act of disobedience against a divine command, which introduces sin and death into the world.
Knowledge and Free Will: The act grants humans knowledge of good and evil, an exercise of free will that leads to a moral consciousness but also shame and guilt.
Consequences and Suffering: The result is alienation from God, each other, and nature, leading to physical death, pain in childbirth, and a life of toil.
External Temptation: An external force (the serpent) seduces humanity into believing they can be like God through their own efforts, leading to self-worship and autonomy.
I have a slightly different view.
The "Sin" as a Failure of Reason.
Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Consequences are Natural, Not Punishment.
Focus on the Inner Citadel.
No Need for an External Savior.
Chapter 3 Genesis may include an allegory for the universal human struggle to live according to reason and nature, emphasizing self-mastery and duty within the existing cosmic order, rather than a historical account of a lost paradise and a need for redemption.
Your thoughts,
Thanks you for reading and commenting, Paul.
Right now in my walk I think I can go with your Allegorical version of Genesis chapter 3.
Merry Christmas.
JD
1 - My take continues to be that the majority of people who write on the bible always seem to do it from a human perspective. Very few, and I mean very few look at things from God's perspective.
My simple allegory - before they filmed the movie the 'Titanic' someone had to write a script, therefore this person or persons already knew the outcome, or may have had a series of potential endings to choose from.
So it is with God, he already knew the ending before man even decided to sin, and He made provision that sin, again even before He created Man.
2 - Sin is really a decision made to disobey the 'spoken' word of God. In Genesis 3, the woman stated she was deceived, acknowledging her failing (not yet sin). It only became sin when Adam chose to eat the fruit his wife gave him, although he knew it was forbidden by God and refused to accept responsibility when he blamed God for giving him the woman.
3 - It's not my place to defend God or even to make up peoples mind for them. My job is to live a life that reflect what I believe. I believe in Jesus, therefore my life should reflect my beliefs, my values.
I4 - I consider myself a sinner, but I don't hold it against myself or even let it hold me back. God anticipated that Man would sin "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23. So I don't let it worry me, because He already knows I will sin. So what I do is repent daily of my sin and move on.
I could go on with this forever, but what purpose will it serve, you have your beliefs and opinions. I have mine. It is still left to each of us to walk whatever path we choose for ourselves "As for me and my house We WILL serve the LORD. Cheers ^_^
Christmas is the manifestation of the promise God made in Genesis chapter 3 when God said to satan :and her (Eve) seed shall crush your head.
We celebrate the salvation He (Jesus) for all those who want it.
Merry Christmas JD, to you and yours and may you have a prosperous 2026. Cheers *_*.
Love overcomes all evil.
This time is a time of sharing the love that Jesus Christ gave to us
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Paul, thank you for sharing what guides your path.
My focus in the original post was simply on hope and the meaning we bring into the world this season, without turning it into a theological debate.
I’m glad we can each walk our own path with integrity.
Merry Christmas.
JD
Sorry about that.
My bad.
Merry Christmas.
Sorry, Paul, I should have clarified better. I was speaking to Paul Chetwyn.
As I said, "Right now in my walk, I think I can go with your Allegorical version of Genesis chapter 3."
My post was not meant to be religious or theological, but reflective.
JD
I wish I could say it in a word. But I cannot.
I believe that Jesus was a gift to humanity.
I believe that we have had too many martyrs.
In my Indian culture, we have a belief. One god for all.
Be Merry. Be bright.
Life is a long journey.
Share your kindness and wisdom with others.
It will serve you well.
Take the kindest care with those you love.
Merry, Merry.
No hurries, no worries.
Life is.
I am with the belief of Nanak. Buddhism takes a place along with the values of the Stoics.
May you continue.
Paul from Canada.
Paul, thank you.
I appreciate the kindness and perspective you bring.
We each walk our own path, and I believe meaning grows as we share what we can along the way.
Merry Christmas to you as well, and may the coming year be a good one for us both.
JD
Cheers.
Cheers.
Football. The American Style.
Today, 3 games.
Only in America.
Yes, Paul.
But I don't care for 99% of sports.
Blessed Be
JD