S.2, Ep. 4: What does Christmas mean to you?
We’re doing this one a little differently. Instead of merely using quotes like the typical format of the episodes; in this post, we’re weaving the answer to what Christmas means through spotlighted responses to the prompt. Now let’s try to define Christmas from your words:
photo: pinterest
What is Christmas to you?
It’s about love.
Christmas to me means having one day to spend time with family and reminisce on the many moments we’ve had. I get to feel my mother’s love not through words but through the actions she does on that day. From preparing food to decorating and getting the day set.
-Kim
It’s giving a lot of love and cherishing the people around you.
- Hanifah
It's a time for families and loved ones to gather and celebrate life, love, and accomplishments or ordeals.
– George
For me, Christmas is about joy. It’s taking time to celebrate the unconditional grace and love that Jesus brought into our world. What an amazing gift!
– Marvellous
Some of us are still figuring it out:
(It’s about hope)
Christmas for me is about remembrance because my mum died in December some years ago. It’s all I think about this time of year, the whole traumatic experience of it. To me, Christmas is more mellow because of that. In general, I have mixed feelings about Christmas. Until 2022, I hated Christmas, I was only participating in it because my family was doing so but I didn’t like it because it meant remembering a really sad time when I lost my mum. But now, I’m trying to find new ways to love Christmas because it’s about Jesus at the end of the day. At the back of my mind however, I still remember her passing and I just do special little things like lighting candles for her every December in her remembrance.
- Debora
Christmas means nothing to me… We don’t really celebrate Christmas right now. I think it stemmed from religion at first, now its formed into this capitalist thing to buy more things - if you can’t tell, I studied sociology. I think most Christmas movies have a moral of the story, like talking about naughty and nice lists, trying to get people to be on the nice list and stuff, but it means nothing to me. Hopefully in the future when I have my own family, I’ll try to make it a thing we celebrate.
-Sinachi
It’s about family
People coming together to celebrate anything is always beautiful but what exactly makes it super special on Christmas?
Christmas is more than a holiday. It’s a time for family and friends to get together and embrace each other to show how important and meaningful those connections are to each other. It symbolizes the embodiment and the birth of Christ, and how we should embrace each other in his name.
-Ethan
Christmas means coming together with loved ones and enjoying quality time with one another. It means laughter, joy, serenity. It is a reminder that the stress and anxiety that I feel throughout the year truly does not matter. It reminds me to stop dwelling on the bad and focus on the small moments in life.
– Dani
It’s a good time to spend with your family - family is the best gift of all.
– Owen
It’s about gratitude
Christmas means thankfulness and bonding. Thanking God for the lives we live and the blessings we have. Spending time with family and friends that we don’t otherwise get to other times of the year and enjoying all that comes with Christmas (the music, the weather, the overall holiday joy)
- Michelle
Christmas to me defines rest, renewal, thankfulness and joy, as well as family.
-Tofunmi
To me, Christmas is a time of love, joy, and togetherness. It’s about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, sharing special moments with family and friends, and spreading kindness and generosity to others. It’s a season of gratitude, reflection, and hope for the coming year.
- Gina
Cherishing your loved ones and appreciating the smaller moments in life. Do you really know the people you’re buying gifts for? Gifting gives you an opportunity to express how well you know your loved ones, personality wise.
-Chelsea
All those roads lead to Christ.
A common pattern in almost all the responses mentioned so far was Jesus Christ. The religious aspect of Christmas makes it much more than a holiday. In fact I think the positive spirit that surrounds Christmas is entirely spiritual.
Time to celebrate the birth of Christ and learn that God is always there with us. Time to come together and forget all of the bad things that have gone before and hope for the new year to bring good tidings.
- Gladys
As a Christian, I always look forward to celebrating Christmas. December as a whole brings joy because it is the season of celebration. Growing up in Nigeria, we always celebrated Christmas; back home, we celebrated it with family. I miss celebrating it in Nigeria because back there, your neighbors will bring food, share food and share drinks together, the little you have, you eat with people and have fun and celebrate and rejoice together. I always look forward to going home to celebrate Christmas with my parents. As early as 7am in the morning, breakfast is ready, we eat it as a family, we pray, thank God that we get to experience Christmas day, go to church, then celebrate. As an adult, because of the way I grew up celebrating Christmas, the holiday is a part of me. I always get myself a good gift for Christmas, cook as much as I can, have fun, get myself new clothes, go to church and thank God for the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, because Christmas is all about Christ.
-Ogbitse
Christmas to me is when Christ was born, it’s the story of salvation, which is really important because it is God looking at us seeing that we can’t save ourselves, we can’t help ourselves, and coming himself to save us. So all we need to do is just believe - believe what Christ has done and walk in it. That takes us through the whole year. It is the invitation to believe in Jesus so that we’re no longer trying to work it out ourselves, in our own power or in our own wisdom as we have a helper in God. He is working with us, empowering us, strengthening us, giving us grace to achieve all that he has brought us into this world to do. That’s what Christmas is about.
-Emilia
Thank you so much!
Until the next one,
-C
