@Beach50
We have no way of knowing what another person has experienced. I've met people from every religion, non-religion, color, height, IQ score, and sports team preference who were capable of being unkind.
Please don't tell people that they're making stuff up when they share their experiences.
You are being deliberately provocative and unkind. Persistent pot-stirring will not be tolerated. 10-day timeout. -JoyfulHeart [Moderator]
@Beach50 your use of “he” pronoun pretty much proves her points. And not for nothing, I care.
@KuddlyKoala thanks for several thoughtful comments on this post.
@KansasDad Thank you. Over the years, I've known many people - Christian and otherwise - who have cared. Every one of them has been helpful on a very long healing process. I still have a way to go, but I've also come quite a long way.
I've never really been into Christmas or Thanksgiving, except when I was a kid. No bad experiences, but they're just regular days for me (well, a little better than regular days since I have them off). The only "holiday" I ever get into is Halloween.
Perhaps this has already been noted above (I didn't see it, but I might have missed it). Despite our connections to the "first Thanksgiving" when the Pilgrims survived near starvation and were greatly aided by the indigenous people in that area, our current/modern recognition originates with Lincoln. He declared a national day of Thanksgiving during the Civil War. With all the horrible things going on at that time in our country, he thought we as a nation should take a moment to remember the good things for which we can give thanks, even in the midst of such turmoil.
Just a thought.
Thanksgiving was originally the last Thursday of November. At the request of merchants who wanted extra time for the Christmas shopping season, FDR and Congress changed it to the fourth Thursday of the month in 1941.
Amen to that @jimmylee
It snowed in Seoul!! ❄️☃️ I’m excited because it’s my first one in a while (since I live in Dallas) Now it’s feeling like the holiday season!
@jimmylee 100% agree!
@g_w_t_w beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Thanksgiving is Christmas minus the gift giving. Christmas is Thanksgjving with gift giving.
@gem7 Seems that way to me and I almost prefer Thanksgiving for that reason. But love the Christmas decorations and mood. Just not the stress! It’s all baking season for me! 🥧 🍪🧁
@gem7 Also, on Thanksgiving you eat turkey, and on Christmas you eat ham (which if Jesus were to stop by, he'd have to decline because it isn't kosher). Also, you don't cut down trees for Thanksgiving.
I missed one film starring Max Von Sydow and Carlton Heston! What a cast! The Greatest Story Ever Told! About the life of Jesus. Strange the image of the poster doesn’t show up anymore here
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059245/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
@g_w_t_w I too prefer Thanksgiving but love those Christmas decorations also. @IronLemon I often wonder how many trees get cut down around the world in order to celebrate Christmas.
They grow Christmas trees typically in Christmas tree farms for that purpose so I don't believe there are trees being cut down in the forest
Yes, one of my grandparents' businesses on their farm was Christmas trees. Those trees grow super fast and were grown for the purpose. They also had a refundable deposit where you could bring them back and we would cut them into kindling and such (being soft wood it was good for starting fires but not long burning), season it in a drying shed and sell it again.
As a teenager I wielded their chainsaw with deadly but festive purpose on many a hapless of trees for the holiday trade and was glad to help.
To advertise each year, we had this one huge tree, until it fell over one year in a huge winter storm abd consequently got turned into firewood, that we decorated with lights so you could see it from the road.🌲
As a tree farmer, I can guarantee the Christmas trees are not coming from a forest. As @pmvines said, those trees are coming from dedicated farms for that purpose.
@pmvines Just about the one and only fact that I know about Taylor Swift (because her music isn’t my favorite) is that she grew up on a Christmas tree farm. Oh and that she’s now a billionaire because that’s notable also.
Trees are an infinitely renewable resource.
A Christmas tree farm near me sells the trees live or cut, will accept the tree back after the holidays to mulch it, and their crop gets bigger every year as they plant more trees than they sell. Being local, it saves on all the fuel and transportation costs associated with shipping the trees in from elsewhere. I thought this was SOP for most farms across the country, but perhaps not.
Plus real trees are much more environmentally friendly than those evil plastic trees.
Everyone should plant at least a couple trees during the year.
I didn't know that about her, huh. I wonder if she knows how to use a chainsaw. I bet she does. 😁
Edit: Agree, @TxTom. As many trees as we harvested, we planted a lot too.
@HarleyGirlKate Omg 🤣🤣🤣 well that’s a thought that hadn’t entered my mind yet but I imagine she does.
Holy crap I agree with @TxTom on something somebody needs to pull up the Apocalypse thread
Yay for Christmas tree farms.
Ok I’m bundling up now to head it in the very deep snow and will look for Christmas trees!
Nice! And you ever run into Taylor, ask her if she prefers Stihl, Husqvarna, etc.
lol I probably will never personally have that opportunity! But believe it or not, her bf’s home is in the same suburb I grew up in. Next time I return to the old neighborhood, maybe I’ll run into them at Trader Joe’s. I’d be intimidated by their size if nothing else. I wonder if they’ll be celebrating the holidays there lol 🤔 (trying to get back on topic)
My city has a Christmas tree collection site where they turn them into mulch. They specify a certain week for picking up your tree curbside at your house, or you can take it to them and trade it for free mulch.