Great question...
The danger for too many children brought up with plenty of presents and no religion is that they never get a dose of education and end up with no system of beliefs and no faith in anything or anyone Bigger than themselves, which is no gift at all. They never do learn what Christmas is about.
We gathered for Christmas Eve at my baby sisters home and, after 5 hours of warmth, fellowship, presents, food and drink, we all headed home and, by all accounts, everyone had a fabulous time. Simply put, my family does 'together' very, very well. We just get along.
There was no talk of Christ, of why we were together. There was no prayer before our meal. The only religious talk at all, that I caught, was re-telling of the two Christmas plays I was in as a kid and the now hilarious disasters I wreaked on the cast and audience. Some of us go to church, most don't.
The very subject Estrich is concerned with was on my mind on the way home; specifically, will the kids, when they are my age, feel and enjoy the same warmth and joy at Christmas time that I do and for the same reasons?
It's an on-going conversation and, so far, I think they will.
In any event, if the poll offered Christmas = family fellowship, I would have chosen that.
We do birthdays much like we do Christmas; a cooperative meal, drink and fellowship but the attention centered on the one person. Christmas, for us, to me, is very much, in terms of spirit, like all of our gatherings only more so. Christmas is like it's all our birthday that same day, plus the decorations, tree, bows, etc that say; 'Christmas'.
So, to the kids Christmas education, I hope we are instilling the celebration of the winter gathering of our family, to exchange gifts, to exchange fellowship, all in the name of celebrating the ideas of Christ; fellowship.
If there is a God, it is my opinion that when he checks in on our celebration He immediately recognizes the warm, love and togtherness we share and is pleased.
My hope is that the kids understand and embrace that.
The gift lists, the food preparation and the decorations which to some is the crass commercialization of the season are, to me, re-inforcing of the season. The people we love most are on our minds as we shop, when we send and recieve cards and when we choose food and drink. It feeds the anticipation. ramps up the excitment to the climax of Christmas eve and Christmas day.
