Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Tradition and Cultures around Christmas

Winter is coming, soon enough, and with winter comes Christmas, well for those who celebrate it. Christmas means different things to different people. For some people it means celebrating the birth of Christ with family or loved ones and for others it’s an opportunity to bank in on presents, this is a great example of parole. Dr. Richard P. Bucher says that, “the word “Christmas” refers to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the most important part of the celebration of Christ’s birth.” 



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Christmas is a traditional celebration among Christians and Catholics. And while I myself am Catholic and do celebrate Christmas, one thing I can’t get away from at that time of year is food. Everywhere I go, every house I visit, every party I go to, even when I go shopping, there is always a variety and abundance food. Cookies, candy, hot chocolate drinks, traditional Christmas sweets, cakes, traditional drinks, lunches and dinners, the list goes on. It’s quite overwhelming at times but every year on Christmas Day, my whole family sits down at the dining table and we have a traditional Christmas dinner.


Credit: Ronaldo F Cabuhat

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What makes a Christmas meal successful? Women in Kentucky who participated in a study by the Department of Occupational Therapy say that is “is just having family all together and sharing.”  I agree with this statement because I definitely think that the ideology behind Christmas is community and family. Working together with family and friends to make meals, shop for others or just spend time together is a big part of the tradition and culture of people who celebrate Christmas. That time of year is very important to people who value tradition.


However, these days tradition at Christmas time is changing. The world is changing how we see Christmas. For example, the economy during the week before Christmas is booming due to the fact of people buying presents. This is because to a certain extent many people these days don’t think about Christmas in a traditional way.  They don’t think about celebrating the birth of Christ and what that means, or going to church. They think about it as giving gifts and receiving even better ones in return. This could be a cultural discourse because we are shaping the way we will think about Christmas in the future. Eventually tradition might even die down because of how the generations today are thinking about cultural events. 







Related Links: What does"Christmas" mean?



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