We don't place a tree or seasonal lights in our home. We do exchange simple token gifts and participate in Christmas-time type parties and social activities, and greetings and such. So, to be clear, I am not "anti-Christmas", we just keep it as more of a reflective time of gratitude, spartan as it may be. This has been our practice for a few years now, and it's weird at first, but it's given me a different perspective on the holiday season and it's barrage of everything. At a glance, Christmas Day looked like every other Sunday at my place.
I like the way you think. We have no issue with others and how they celebrate either, but we celebrate Yule in our house in honor of the original Celtic holiday, among others. So the Yule Log is our "xmas tree". The 25th is a day to relax, chill, and have Chinese food at a good buffet. And the best part - no tree to deal with and the Yule log that we use is a log with candles since we don't have a fireplace. Clean up is a snap.
Waiting for the three wise men to show before the Christmas decorations come down... End of Christmas
You may be waiting a long time. Scripture doesn't say how many wise men came. Might have only been two!
...or a dozen. Who knows? Christ likely wasn't born in December, but hey, tradition... Bottom line, I've a few more days before the decorations come down!
Taking ours down this coming weekend. We moved in about a month ago and are still exhausted from all of the unpacking and haven't gotten up the energy yet. Plus it's just so nice it's a bit of a bummer. The nice thing is that since my wife is of Chinese descent we will soon put up a bunch of Chinese New Year decorations, which will be a great way to liven up the house during that 'blah' time in Jan & Feb.
