I think as Christians we should be educated on certain things we participate in. Before last "CHRIST-mas" I took a lot of time doing research on the origins of the holidays most American Christians celebrate, as well as the origins of the traditions of these holidays. If anyone is educated in this area I would like some opinions and thoughts please.
I do not celebrate Halloween at all. For "CHRIST-mas" I do not put up a tree nor do I tell my child about "Santa-Claus". For Easter I'm not crazy about egg hunt, but can manage how Christians believe the egg is a symbol for Jesus tomb. However when the bunny comes in the scene I'm still just not so sure how exactly I feel about the whole thing. I think it would be really awesome to switch up traditions in a way that's fun for Christians as well as them benefiting in their walk with Christ.
So what do you all think about these holidays? Halloween,Christ-mas,Easter,Thanksgiving?
Lastly what about holidays in the bible? Does anyone celebrate passover?
If you do a bit of looking around the forum, it probably won't take you very long to discover that this topic can produce some fairly heated debate
My personal view is, I often forget the things God has done for me in my life. Sometimes, I'll for some reason be reminded of something and think, "Oh yeah! God did that for me, I can't believe I forgot that!" My mom kept a prayer journal, and it was one of her favorite things, because she could look back and see how God had answered prayers she forgot she even prayed. In the old testament, we read that the Hebrews also tended to easily forget what God had done for them. So, when God did something special, they would build an alter to commemorate it. My mom's prayer journal is her way of building an alter to commemorate what God has done for her.
I see holidays in a similar way. The old testament holidays were there so the Hebrews would remember. They were times for the whole nation to just pause together, and remember and celebrate the things God has done for them.
Passover is a great example, I think. When Jesus was eating the Passover feast with His disciples, when they were supposed to be remembering how death "passed over" the homes of the Hebrews with the final plague on Egypt, leading to their freedom from slavery, He says, "do this in remembrance of me." It's like He was saying that the first Passover, which only saved the Hebrews from slavery, was only a taste of what God had in store: a new Passover that could offer true freedom to everyone. So yeah, I do celebrate Passover, every time I participate in communion!
I think the point is, we forget. So if we take time to pause from our lives to remember and celebrate the things God has done for us, that's not a bad thing. If Christians, at Christmas, want to remember and celebrate Jesus' birth, sure, why not. If they want to use Easter to remember and celebrate His death and resurrection, why not. If we need help remembering, and I know I do, maybe the OT Hebrew example can teach us that's it's good to set up "alters" and "feasts" in our lives (however that looks for you), so we can just take time to pause, remember, and celebrate. And I totally support your idea of "switching up" traditions as well. Setting up "alters" in our lives can look pretty different for different people. I think the most important thing is that we're remembering and celebrating what God has done for us, and we have lots of freedom to do that in different ways.