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I recently fell down the pagan holiday rabbit hole and now I feel like I should no longer celebrate Christmas or Easter…

Problem is I’m not Jewish and my husband thinks Passover is nothing more than Jewish Independence Day so he A) is not convinced we should celebrate it B) thinks it’s gonna be a hard transition and C) it’s gonna cause problem with his side of our family (non-denom Christian).

Are there any #Nostriches who’ve gone down this rabbit hole? Celebrate Passover instead of Christmas? Or have any advice period?

Would love some assistance thinking this through 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

arjwright 2y ago

It’s a heck of a rabbit hole; and way more to unpack than many folks can.

Simple advice, “Paul encouraged folks to let folks work out their faith.” What you believe, and how you live it is part (first) of a collective faith, then of your individual steps in that faith. If you will. You will pick up and pit down many things. It’s ok. It’s encouraged.

For the holidays you choose to celebrate, be open to others’ views but convinced of your own. Christmas, Easter, and several others have been co-opted by many secular and non-secular folks over the ages. Passover and Ramadan seem to have been better able to keep a separate (holy?) framing in the greater view, though there’s arguments within on what is and isn’t good enough.

Be gentile with yourself as you take these steps. And give grace to folks who aren’t seeing things as you do. From there, follow the Creator and strive toward holiness. That’s going to help whatever holidays you celebrate resonate in truth for others

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Discussion

BitcoinBelle 2y ago

Thank you for such thoughtful and encouraging advice!

You’re absolutely right and I will be sure to be more graceful. It has been a beautiful journey but it’s very painful… in more ways than I would’ve imagined.

arjwright 2y ago

You are most welcome.

It’s a lovely and painful thing to break and reshape Noel’s belief systems. What we believe is very much a part of who we are. When we share that belief with others, it’s community. When we impart those beliefs into behaviors, it creates what we know as culture.

Our families are built on many stones of those beliefs. Some of those sit so very embedded into community and culture that it is nigh painful to question, let alone walk another path.

Where you are is… where you are. It’s not bad or good. It is where you are.

From what is both beautiful and terrifying about this for you, I’m sure others will find avenues for themselves to grow in their own faith, and influence their communities and cultures.

To quote a younger version of me, “keep growing forward.”