Hello All,
My son and I just went to see Narnia for the second time (well,
actually I've seen it 2 1/4 times, thanks to my rambunctious grandson,
lol), and enjoyed it very much. He was so impressed by it, that he and
his friends chose it to be their Christmas movie treat.
The first time we watched it,when Tumnus said this line (where it is always winter, but never Christmas) to Lucy, my son looked knowingly at me at said "I know exactly what he means!"
To him, that's an apt description of what being associated with the
JWs is like for a child. No Christmas, no birthdays, no prom, no
sports, no Valentines, no Independence Day parades and fireworks, no
friends outside the congregation, no Easter, no! no! no! no!
Oh, we tried to do fun things for our children. We gave them gifts at
convention time, we had children's theme parties throughout the year
for them, we even had a congregation skating party and square dance
every year. But even those become no!no!no!no! My family was accused
of mimicking birthday parties and holiday parties because we threw
parties for our children and their JW friends (even though the theme
parties were NEVER in the child's birth month, and even though our
parties NEVER featured anything holiday related). I made the mistake
of having a sledding party that included cut out snowflakes, snowmen,
and sleds with various scriptures printed on them about how creation
indicates God's glory (including the seasonal changes). Yep-you
guessed it. Someone said it looked like a Christmas party!! Even
though it was in January!
The congregation parties were done away with, too. When the flip-flop
about the "dangers" of large gatherings became in vogue again, the
elders of the three halls that would meet for our parties called an
end to it. It broke a lot of hearts, and I'm not talking just the
children. There were a number of dear older ones who looked forward to
the chance to get together and see everyone in the same place during a
time of year when travel was dangerous to them in Michigan. But no one
cared. It was all about "being obedient to Jehovah's organisation."
And they wonder why there is such a high turnover!!
Yes, "It's been a long winter!"
But we are FREE! The White Witch of legalism has been defeated by God's grace, and Christmas is here again in our family-just as it came back in Narnia!
O Come, O Come Emmanuel! Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank you Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for your most Wondrous GIFT!
Merry, Merry Christmas to you all! May you have Comfort, Joy and Peace this Christmas, and throughout the coming year:)
Go to Page 2
Page 2 contains my own thoughts on this subject