Christmas and the Unitarian Universalist

By Zion -
At Christmas, a Unitarian Universalist can feel caught right between Christ and Santa Claus. Most Unitarian Universalists are uncomfortable with the notion that Jesus is the reason for the season and they do not want to elevate the materialism of Santa Claus. Most Unitarian Universalists are left puzzled and perplexed at Christmas. It is important to reflect about Christmas and what you want it to mean in your home.

Community service is a large part of a Unitarian Universalist's life. A nice Christmas ritual my family has is related to the service of others. My children make a Unitarian Universalist Helping Others box to put money in for the coming year's donations. We sing Christmas carols as well as lighting up a special Christmas chalice that we made together and make promises about how we will help others throughout the year.

For the most part, Unitarian Universalists respect Christian traditions that celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus. Many Unitarian Universalists take Martin Luther King's birthday very seriously, so why not the birth of Jesus? It is a good opportunity for Unitarian Universalist parents to talk with their children about the teachings of Jesus. Christmas and Easter may be the only times that you do this, but it is important.

Some Unitarian Universalists celebrate the Winter Solstice with some intensity. I have attended many gatherings on this day to celebrate the cycles of the Earth. One family that I know does not celebrate Christmas at all, only the Winter Solstice. They have a big celebration that ends with Sun Shakes made with orange juice and vanilla ice cream.

We do not have a name for it, but each Christmas my family all exchanges names. The idea is that you are supposed to do three good deeds for the person whose name you drew during the coming year. This is a little like a Secret Santa, but it has been altered to fit with our family's values.

Fresh Poinsettia Christmas Flowers For Decorations

By Joe -
I was visiting Frankenmuth, Michigan when I came upon a place called Bronner's Christmas Wonderland. This place was amazing. I had never heard of this place before and saw a bunch of billboards for it when I was leaving Detroit on a road trip. I stopped to see if they had any decorations with my favorite Christmas flowers.

Bronner has had a lot of ornaments and decorations that featured the Poinsettia Christmas flowers. I was surprised because up until then, the only decorations I had found with Poinsettia Christmas flowers were artificial flowers at the craft store. Those do not look very realistic to me.

The selection of Poinsettia Christmas flowers at Bronner's was good. I bought ten sets of six shatterproof Poinsettia Christmas flowers for my tree. In one afternoon, I had found and purchased the ornaments that I had always wanted and did not even know existed. They are exquisite and so brilliantly red.

I decided that I would come back again before Christmas to see if Bronner has any more Poinsettia Christmas flowers on something that I needed. I am glad I decided to return to Bronner's because when I did go back, they had a shipment of new silver Poinsettia Christmas flowers holographic light set. The sets only had ten lights per string, so I only bought enough sets to decorate my mantle.

While I was on my way out, I spotted some three-inch glass ornaments on a display near the main entrance. I had not noticed them on my way in. They had Poinsettia Christmas flowers hand painted on them. I bought all that they had on the display and was done with my Christmas decoration shopping trip. My tree and mantle looked glorious that year featuring my very favorite Christmas flowers.

I love Poinsettia Christmas flowers. My mother used to buy a lot of them and place them around the house during the Christmas season. The bright red and the milky white ones both make me remember my childhood and all of the great Christmases that I have ever had.