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HWN Suggests

Finding Meaning In the Holidays

Given our culture’s materialistic focus, it can be a really challenging to find meaning in the holidays. We are urged to do more and spend more to make this the “perfect holiday.” The increased demands that bombard us this time of year make it particularly challenging to find time for the rituals and traditions that gives our holiday meaning, yet it is vitally important that we do so. I offer the following suggestions in the hope they will help you and your family find meaning in all of your holidays celebrations.

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Featured

  The Meaning of Christmas: A Secular Perspective

My objective with the article is to lend a little understanding of the Christmas holiday from a secular perspective. A sort of olive branch to Christians, if you will. Of course, if you aren’t remotely interested in a heathen, infidel, pagan, Satanic, baby eating, humanist’s opinion on anything, then I’ve just saved you the time of bothering by writing this preamble ramble. However, I do hope you’ll receive the olive branch and keep an empty cup.

Articles of Interest

Why is Christmas Day on the 25th December?

The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). But it was not an official Roman state festival at this time. However, there are many different traditions and theories as to why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.

The Meaning of Christmas Symbols

Have you ever wondered why people hang tinsel on Christmas trees, or how candy canes became synonymous with the winter holiday? While these holiday decorations may seem arbitrary, most of these traditional decorations have a special meaning.

Do They Know it’s Christmas? 30 Years Later

Every gift which is given, even though is be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection - Pindar

Don’t be a Scrooge! Santa is Watching

Hunger doesn’t discriminate. It can affect anyone—even those you’d least expect. Matt Damon is doing his part as an ambassador for ONEXONE dedicated to helping create a world where children can live safely and with dignity.

Finding Meaning in the Holidays and Christmas

The holidays are a time of year, almost a rite of passage one might say, that you either love or dread. There’s little inbetween. Most folks look forward to the holidays and Christmas on some level, perhaps believing they can or will rekindle that childhood feeling of innocence and wonder that usually accompanies this time of the year.

How to find meaning in Christmas

Every year I hear a variation of, “I just don’t have the Christmas spirit this year. I mean, what is the point?” A friend,the cashier at the grocery store or a random person in line at Starbucks. I nod sympathetically as if I, too, share this experience. Here is my reality: I have sought a point to Christmas for almost 30 years.

It’s time for a Christmas truce in the COVID wars

Not a single sentence can be said about the devastating virus without triggering an angry response referring to something that happened in 2020. Everyone from the most cautious public health official to the most militant anti-vaxxer has a quiver filled with anger and resentments over the past.

The Darker Side of Christmas

In many times and places, the joyful holiday has been a time for melancholy reflections and ghostly visitations.

Resources

Why Christmas

The Most Christmas Information on the Web!