What does Xmas mean to you?

Agrippa · December 14, 2015, 10:19:31 AM

At this time of year we tend to forget the true meaning of Christmas, celebrating the birth of
Our Lord etc. I'm a traditionalist so I'll celebrate in my own quiet way.

ie A good skinful on Christmas Eve, get up late on Christmas Day, have a fry up, then
open a few bottle of beer and watch Die Hard and Where Eagles Dare.

Later in the evening Rachel Riley calls round for a glass of gluhwein........

Newportnobby · December 14, 2015, 10:20:50 AM

Sounds positively idyllic

Agrippa · December 14, 2015, 10:25:52 AM

Aye laddie , ye cannae whack it................

MalcolmInN · December 14, 2015, 10:26:53 AM

So we all round to Agrippa's place for Xmas then ? Sounds good.

Point of order - where are all the Santa emoticons ??

Agrippa · December 14, 2015, 10:38:13 AM

Quote from: MalcolmAL on December 14, 2015, 10:26:53 AM
Point of order - where are all the Santa emoticons ??

They're stuck up the chimney..........

paulprice · December 14, 2015, 10:40:09 AM

Quote from: Agrippa on December 14, 2015, 10:38:13 AM
Quote from: MalcolmAL on December 14, 2015, 10:26:53 AM
Point of order - where are all the Santa emoticons ??

They're stuck up the chimney..........

QUICK LIGHT THE FIRE

Jerry Howlett · December 14, 2015, 12:50:30 PM

Quote from: Agrippa on December 14, 2015, 10:19:31 AM
At this time of year we tend to forget the true meaning of Christmas, celebrating the birth of
Our Lord etc. I'm a traditionalist so I'll celebrate in my own quiet way.

ie A good skinful on Christmas Eve, get up late on Christmas Day, have a fry up, then
open a few bottle of beer and watch Die Hard and Where Eagles Dare.

What are the BBC not screening "A Night to remember" or "Sink the Bismarck" ?. Next thing they will be screening films in colour ! Now where did I put the opener for my Watneys Party Seven tin ?

Jerry

LAandNQFan · December 16, 2015, 10:06:24 AM

After looking at some of the responses which an innocent and well-meaning question elicited, I was thinking about deleting "N Gauge Forum" from my bookmarks, but an honest question deserves an honest answer.
Christmas means

trying to get all those semi-quaver runs right when singing the "Messiah" ("His yoke is easy" isn't!) ;

trying to remember which version of the harmony to the "Gloria"s I'm singing with each of the three choirs I'm in;

sending cash to the Salvation Army, Christian Aid, RNLI, Barnado's, Red Cross, Legion etc rather than to Hattons, Union Mills, Brimal etc;

remembering that though I wish Christmas could be separated from all the commercialism, many people and businesses (even postmen) may benefit from the financial boost they get;

keeping in touch with friends I've made over the years even if we don't see each other often;

sharing with lots of other singers in visiting old people's homes and sheltered housing;

supporting the food banks in their respective towns run by the two churches I attend;

remembering the websites and the exact specs of the gear I need for the railway so that I can give accurate answers to the question "What do you want for Christmas?";

remembering that the Christmas story identifies God as coming as a helpless and vulnerable baby, born to an unmarried teenager who becomes a refugee from violence in the Middle East;

being thankful that so many of the values of our society - respect for each other, toleration, unselfish help and appreciation, justice for the poor, valuing each individual equally (values normally exercised on this forum) - arise from the teachings of that baby;
:'( praying for the Christian communities in the Middle East (Bethlehem 1990 95% Christian: Bethlehem 2015 95% Muslim) suffering largely as a result of Western governments' policies;

rejoicing;

and now being grateful to all those who contributed to this thread for making me try to define what Christmas means to me this year.

Tiny Tim had it right - "God bless us all!"

DELETED · December 16, 2015, 12:04:09 PM

I use the term Xmas unashamedly as I am a staunch atheist though I did have a christian upbringing. For about 20 years the season has always been a reminder of family members who always passed away at this time so as the years passed the festive spirit progressively dwindled in this household. 3 years ago I was laid up signed off work with a broken ankle, last year I was a couple of months into unemployment and I find myself still unable to get work this year also. I have never managed to have xmas in my own home since leaving the family house in 1997, this year I'm going home to my apartment up in Inverness and my Mum's joining me (I've been staying in her spare room in Falkirk recently trying to find work there). But I have to start packing things up and re-decorating for selling in the new year as I can no longer afford to keep it, the Halifax have been utterly uninterested and my savings have all but gone now as I've tried everything to keep the place so far.

...So neither my Brother or I have any kids and I was more recently choosing to make charity donations instead until I became out of work. My Mother and I just hate this time of year but she's slightly more tolerant of it than I am. I do realise it means allot to many folk, but personally I wish I could just press fast forward from the end of November to mid January and skip it entirely and let everyone else happily get on with it themselves. Not to dampen everyone elses jolly time and I do hope my festive spirit comes back at some point. I can't see any improvement in the engineering industry for the foreseeable, the oil crash is affecting everything and looks like we are nowhere near the low that is sure to come. I sincerely hope the work front changes in 2016 somehow because I just can't see any light at the end of the tunnel yet.

So I'm definitely scrooged out these days but merry xmas to everyone else...