Make Christmas Meaningful.. Even If You're Not Religious

Christmas is essentially a religious holiday, but it has become so much more to millions of people. Even if you do not ascribe strongly to a faith that celebrates Christmas as a religious holiday, you can participate in the profound and important spiritual and ethical aspects of this extraordinary season.

The Spirit of Giving

The essence of the Christmas season is the spirit of giving, and not only to family and friends. You can emphasize this aspect of the holiday by exercising your own habit of generosity toward others. Donating to your favorite charity, volunteering to distribute for a food drive or singing in a holiday chorus that visits hospitals or nursing homes are meaningful ways to celebrate the season. Simply allowing children to pick out a toy for a donation drive or putting money into the Salvation Army bucket can reinforce the relationship between the holiday and its message of helping others. Collecting winter clothing for donation, canned goods for local food drives and other activities can all be used to instill the importance of sharing with others.

The Christmas Story

Whether you believe in a particular religion or are of no religious faith, you are likely to encounter the images, hymns and stories of the original Christmas story, the birth of Jesus Christ. This story contains important lessons about hardship, family bonds, overcoming difficulties, protection of the vulnerable and honoring life that can be appreciated even outside of the religious interpretations. Don't be afraid to share these aspects of the story with your children to help them understand why Christmas is so meaningful to people around the world.

Family Activities

The Christmas holiday offers a variety of opportunities for families to spend time together. Concerts, plays, choral groups, community events, snowball fights, building snow forts, making Christmas decorations and preparing Christmas meals can all build family solidarity and reinforce the importance of the season. Visiting relatives, both far and near, helps to renew family ties and creates a feeling of continuity between the generations. Many children do not spend time with family elders on a regular basis, due to moving for employment or other factors. Christmas provides the perfect opportunity to ensure that children are acquainted with more distant members of the family group.

Counteracting Rampant Materialism

Parents and grandparents are often dismayed by the unbridled materialism of the holiday season that often transcends its profound message. Limiting the amount and value of Christmas presents can help to put this overblown consumerism in its proper perspective. Encourage children to think about getting presents that have "meaning" for the recipient, rather than just monetary value. This effort will help to cement closer relationships with others, as well as to discourage materialism for its own sake.

Focusing on these other important aspects of the season can help to ensure that Christmas remains a significant annual event in your family's life, even if you don't ascribe to the religious interpretation of the holiday.