Friday 18 December 2009

Christmas is here again

Only yesterday I have realized that Chrismas is round the corner. I am not a big fan of holiday fever, I hate the traffic and the crowds and the spending and the hype only to get the downturn of when that is over and receive the credit card bill. I love the lights though. All cities look better and neighborhoods look happier.
Yet, the same problems that haunted each family exist hidden under those lights- sometimes magnified. But we put our best dress and smile on and pretend to forget them. For a short while
I also like playing cards this time of the year. The problem is since I don't play any other time during the year, I usually lose as I am out of practice haha, but still it is fun
What really saddens me around holidays, especially Xmas and New Year that everybody gets high on festivities - especially when kids are involved - is the contrast between those who can celebrate and those who are much less fortunate. I can not really celebrate when I am thinking of all those orphan children or abandoned old people in greek institutions, or those who have lost the loved ones in war.
It is really impossible for me to celebrate and I end up being gloomier than any other time of the year.
My favorite christmas song describes how I feel

2 comments:

Unknown said...

'Do they know it's xmas' is your favourite xmas song? Say it ain't so, Zeta, say it ain't so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCr30OVMjHA

Anonymous said...

Christmas is bullshit. Its only a mutated pagan celebration of the Sun, served to the early christians as the Jesus Christ birthday. Forget about it. Let them spend ALL their disposable income at silly prices. In 10 days there will be amazing sales on everything.

For many centuries, Christian writers accepted that Christmas was the actual date on which Jesus was born. However, in the early eighteenth century, scholars began proposing alternative explanations. Isaac Newton argued that the date of Christmas was selected to correspond with the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, which in ancient times was marked on December 25. In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a "paganization" that debased the true church. In 1889, Louis Duchesne suggested that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after the Annunciation (March 25), the traditional date of the Incarnation.

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
Main article: Sol Invictus
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means "the birthday of the unconquered Sun." The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian; and Mithras, a soldiers' god of Persian origin.[49] Emperor Elagabalus (218–222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday.[50] This day had previously been dedicated to Bacchus, in the Brumalia festival. Bruma being latin for "shortest day."[51]

The festival was placed on the date of the solstice because this was on this day that the Sun reversed its southward retreat and proved itself to be "unconquered." Several early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus.[6] "O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born...Christ should be born", Cyprian wrote.[6] John Chrysostom also commented on the connection: "They call it the 'Birthday of the Unconquered'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord . . .?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas


YANNIS

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