Another memory

Another photo I found when clearing out some stuff today.

( Go on, have a laugh... )

Christmas is looming

OK, so the appearance this week of fairy lights and all forms of sparkly decorations in our stores here in the UK heralds my annual dilemma over Christmas once again. Which is this:

I am not a Christian. Therefore I should not celebrate Christmas as a Christian feast. However, I love Christmas, the whole thing (and in particular the tree); I love the idea of a feast in the middle of the darkest depths of winter, and the family nature of it all. I should really celebrate the Solstice, as the physical turning of the year, when the days start to lengthen again (a real matter for rejoicing in my book!), but the way our national holidays etc work out makes that difficult. So every year I sing carols and feel just a tad guilty, even more so now that my son is starting to talk about what he learns at school regarding the Christmas story etc.

I wish I could just put my conscience on hold and go with the flow of it, but that feels hypocritical to me. Not something I lose sleep over, but nonetheless something I examine my soul over every year.