CarolC, my holiday phobias are so extreme in some respects that I couldn't even open this thread til today! LOL, ruefully!

First, I will be thinking of you when we celebrate our Midnight Mass this year. And as our jam band has fun with carols on banjo, etc. some Friday night in the season! Last year we did a caroling and blues jam. Can't recall why it seemed to make sense to put the two together, but it was a blast. A holy blast. Right in the church. Just for us jammers, not a service! Sometimes we tape these... interested?

To share, though-- the prayer book we use is available online and you can make your own worship events at home out of it. PM me for details if interested. Why I am thinking of it is this-- the church year we observe recognizes All Souls and All Saints when the secular world is carving pumpkins. Next, Thanksgiving in our church is for all blessings, not just for pilgrims and turkeys, so there could be some good stuff in there for that. Then Advent, a time of calm and meditation while the world is going nuts in the malls. And Christmastide going on through all twelve days after Christmas--

See, this could break up the pattern the world around you is going through and maybe that would help you reclaim these holidays for your own use.

One year, we had an all Middle-Eastern Easter at home. You probably know my hubby is a priest. Once he gets home, after church holiday services, somtimes he is kinda all churched out. So that one year we made all the home stuff Middle Eastern, just to break up the pattern. I figured, it happened there, in that culture-- what would they be eating? You might want to try that for Christmas.

If these ideas are of interest, and you want to get news of what we are doing each week through these holidays, please PM me your e-mail or snail address, and I will see to it that you get the weekly newsletter that lists the Bible readings and various rectorly viewpoints as the year turns.

Thanks BTW for all the recent help with clickies. I think I am organized now to go back to doing them! You were so gracious.

~Susan