John here. I thought I'd share some thoughts about how we will be celebrating the upcoming holidays. Rose is now three years old so she definitely is a sponge when it comes to events and celebrations - particularly if there's cake and ice cream involved. At our meeting last week (Nov. 3rd) I realized that to be consistent with UU principals I might need to put more emphasis on other religions, not just default to the birth of Christ every year.
This year we have inherited my family's 40-year-old advent calendar, in which we remove a piece of felt covering a holiday image for each day of December. We will pick from any of 24 cloth-covered pictures, reserving the bottom nativity scene for the 25th. Some of the images on the calendar are undoubtedly Christian, some are just "Wintery". As kids we really enjoyed rotating amongst us, trying to anticipate the particular image we would uncover from our memory of last year's routine. It's notable that we seldom discussed what those images meant. And even though I was raised as a UU kid, we never really veered from the Christian tradition during the holidays. Perhaps that was just the easiest way for my parents to get through the whole ordeal :-)
So it occurs to me that perhaps I might need to mix it up a bit: not just rely on the same advent calendar - the same routine - year after year. Maybe I ought to give equal time to other perspectives, but that kind of begs the question: how can one instill in their kids a sense of tradition about the holiday and at the same time honor all the varying religions and their related traditions? If all we do every year is act as "anthropologists" then what will we be giving our kids to identify and connect with as their own? Hmmm...
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Hi All-
Lori here. John brings up a very good point and unfortunately we won't be formally discussing it until our 4th meeting at REAP. My short answer is that you and your parner decide what you value and what you'd like to emphasize (maybe that's simplicity, or charity, or a family trip to somewhere new or somewhere special to the fam) Anyhow, you get to create your tradition and the more you share, discuss, explain why you value doing what you do the more meaningful and spiritual it is for the children. Children love repetition and ritual is intensional repetion. (Pardon any spelling errors!)
I hope others will add to this soon, as the holidays are upon us!
Cheers,
Lori
I'd say the solstice is the center of our upcoming holiday focus. (I wonder what Annika or Karin would say.) We celebrate Christmas (for connection to family and our upbringings, and for the goodies) but that celebration is not the spiritually meaningful part of our holidays. For me, the family & congregation's rituals to the mark the changing of the seasons (especially related to light) and to express gratitude for the past year's bounties are most significant. These rituals help me reflect on how this place on earth sustains and affects me. They also provide an opportunity to take stock of what I have in my life (to get me through the winter) (and the years ahead?).
As I write this, I'm noticing that I've described a self-centered, inward-looking holiday. This makes me wonder about the spritual value of gift giving and holiday partying. I'm remembering Lori's time-for-all-ages from last month about feeding the multitudes from 5 loaves. A lesson in that story is about the power we can unleash by being generous with one another. So perhaps there is some spiritual value in lavish gift giving, hosting open houses, and getting dressed up & partying -- rather than hunkering down, hoarding food in the pantry & cellar, and fretting about the long, dark, wet months between now and when the garden will produce peas and berries. (Along these lines, check out Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson -- a children's chapter book with a message of "there is enough for all.")
Another thought: Way back when I was growing up in a very church-going Protestant family, I remember lots of struggling to put the "Christ" back in Christmas. We UU's are not alone in wanting to create meaningful holiday experiences for our families.
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