Comments on: My Minimalistic and Opted-Out Christmases https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/ Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:55:48 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 By: “I Don’t” Lists Make Possible “I Do” Lists. You Must Revise Your Life. | Dreaming Beneath the Spires https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18927 Sat, 05 Jan 2013 19:04:42 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18927 […] I don’t “do” Christmas. I treat it as a time for […]

]]> By: Anita Mathias https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18926 Thu, 27 Dec 2012 08:32:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18926 In reply to Archer.

Thanks Archer. I got the idea of asking myself,”Is this blessing my body or cursing my body?” from a couple of your posts. Maybe “The Message of the Blessing,” or the post in which you said you ate foods that affected your bladder inter-cystitis almost out of self-hatred (read it a while ago). So I am beginning to try to learn to love my body, and bless my body. Made some (but little and slow) progress with weight loss this year.

]]> By: Archer https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18925 Thu, 27 Dec 2012 06:57:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18925 Anita,

I REALLY liked this post. I think you are a very interesting person and I really enjoy your sharing things like this. I like your encouragement to think of a Christmas activity that we do not enjoy to drop for next year.

I was very blessed to see you talk about “blessing your body” with good foods and how most Christmas-y foods are very far from a blessing to our bodies. Because my kids eat the food I make, which is very healthy, I often worry that I’m depriving them in some way because they don’t get the traditional bad-for-your-body foods at Christmas. Reading your post encouraged me that I’m doing a good thing, by feeding them food that blesses their body on Christmas. Of course, I lighten up a little… my 3 year old got an all natural candy cane in her stocking, but because we hardly ever give her candy or sugar, it was a super special thing to get that!

I also enjoy all your health and God talk. We need more of it!

love,
archer

]]> By: Anita Mathias https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18924 Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:10:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18924 In reply to Tanya Marlow.

Yeah, it’s low-key and relaxed above all. Happy Christmas, Tanya–what a long blogging break till Jan 8th. I would feel too bereft without putting my thoughts into words! Have fun and rest up!

]]> By: Tanya Marlow https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18923 Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:42:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18923 It is a challenge to keep Christ, above all, in Christmas. Fun to read how your pragmatic Christmas goes!

]]> By: Joy Lenton https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18922 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 20:47:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18922 This is a lovely post, Anita. I find myself coming round more and more to wanting to simplify the celebrations – excuse the loud “At last” from my OH as he rejoices at those words. Not only am I physically less able to do things as I used to, but I am also more financially constrained to need to think about doing it differently in the future.
Our children our fully fledged, independent, married and establishing their own preferences for how to enjoy Christmas. I couldn’t agree more that it is for “quieting the manger of one’s heart” and I’m seeking to help that process along this year by reading ‘Touching Wonder:Recapturing the Awe of Christmas’ by John Blase. A great read so far!
Your post has reminded me again of what’s really important. So I vow to keep the parts I love and to “Keep Christ” central to it all.
Enjoy your own wonderful celebrations as you celebrate in a unique, personal and special way together. 🙂

]]> By: Anita Mathias https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18921 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:23:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18921 In reply to LA.

Yes, Christmas can be a time of heartbreak. I think it’s the conflation of our unrealistic expectations of happiness, and the false sense that everyone else is having a Christmas of great gorgeousness–and the reality of flawed people trying to create perfection.
The most harrowing story I was told was by an American friend, not well-off who had a stingy, abusive father. She badly wanted a particular doll–and got it. Then, as the day progressed, the father got drunk, threatened to stab the mother, and then, burnt down the house–with, one hardly dared to ask–the Christmas doll in it.
Shining light on our dark secrets robs them of their power over us, no question. That’s why blogging and, even more so, memoir-writing, is so powerful!

]]> By: LA https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18920 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:17:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18920 When I lived in Denver, a friend and I started a fun holiday tradition… A Bahhumbug Party. We’d start with a few props…a Charlie Brown tree (you know the type…all sad and pathetic looking), a box of ultra cheap glass ornaments, a 5 gallon paint bucket and a rock at the bottom of it. Each guest would take their turn telling an awful Christmas story..some were funny but sad and some were incredibly moving…but all were about Christmas spirit warped into something terrible. Then you got a cheap ornament, threw it into the bucket and hung the shards on the ad little tree. Once everyone had their turn and boxes of kleenex were used up, the “real” party started. We sang O Come, O Come Emmanuel and brought in the real tree. The first thing before the lights were even on the tree, is we would parade out the manger scene. It was a beautifully releasing party and got so many evil Christmas stories out into the open thus robbing them of their power over us. We brought inthe REAL Christmas after that and were able to celebrate His joyous birth.

]]> By: Anita Mathias https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18919 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:51:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18919 In reply to Jo Inglis.

Thanks, Jo, and have a blessed Christmas too. You are right–stuff really does not make us happy–and we don’t miss a pile of loot!

]]> By: Anita Mathias https://anitamathias.com/2012/12/13/my-minimalist-and-opted-out-christmases/#comment-18917 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:50:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/?p=40266#comment-18917 In reply to Tom M.

What a wonderful idea. I am glad the “put what you can afford” idea works. And really, we all do have enough, we who live in the “west” that is.

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