Festivus is a secular holiday celebrated as a way to celebrate the holiday season without participating in its pressures and commercialism. It was created by writer Dan O'Keefe and introduced into popular culture by his son Daniel, a screenwriter for the TV show Seinfeld, as part of a comical storyline on the show. The holiday's celebration, as shown on Seinfeld, includes an unadorned aluminum "Festivus pole", practices such as the "Airing of Grievances" and "Feats of Strength", and the labeling of easily explainable events as "Festivus miracles". Celebrants of the holiday sometimes refer to it as "a Festivus for the rest of us", a saying taken from the O'Keefe family traditions and popularized in the Seinfeld episode to describe Festivus' non-commercial aspect.
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists, and with agnosticism, which leaves the matter of existence open.
Our family is Roman Catholic. I thought it would be cool to attend Midnight Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and this is the answer I got:
Thank you for your recent email. Unfortunately we do not take Midnight Mass requests until after Labor Day. You would have to send a request in writing to the Cathedral of Saint Patrick, 14 East 51 Street, New York, NY 10022 attention Midnight Mass requests, include a self addressed stamped envelope and there is a limit of 4 tickets per family. The Masses Christmas Day are as follows: 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:15 a.m.; 12 noon, 1:00, 5:30 p.m. Thank you for writing to the Cathedral of Saint Patrick.
So, the Capone family is SOL this year – no Midnight Mass at Saint Patrick’s – we needed to plan ahead!
And then, it hit me like a Festivus pole to the head:
Christmas is not about going to the “cool” Midnight Mass in New York City. It is not about being Catholic, or Christian, or Jewish, or even an Atheist. It is not about Black Fridays or Cyber Mondays. When you finally figure it out, when you finally “get it” and understand what Christmas is all about, you will feel it from the top of your head, to the tips of your toes. And you will never forget.
Regardless of your religious beliefs, regardless of where you live in the world, regardless of what you do for a living, married or single, rich or poor, we all have the ability to make a difference in this world. We all have the ability to leave our mark, to change a life, and to make the world a little better place than how we found it.
I watched "One Solitary Life" and I shared it on Facebook today. I have seen this many times over the years, and I think it is very cool indeed, regardless of your religious beliefs.
I watched "One Solitary Life" and I shared it on Facebook today. I have seen this many times over the years, and I think it is very cool indeed, regardless of your religious beliefs.
Just a few years ago, receiving such a gift was technologically impossible. Today, we take such technology like YouTube – such “gifts” for granted. Some would call it a “Festivus miracle”. I am a little old school, so I am going sticking with “Christmas miracle”.
Please, please, please watch the YouTube video “Change for a Dollar” like 1.3 million others have done to date. Tell me that you don’t feel the “Christmas Spirit” like you never felt it before.
PEACE and Blessings to Everyone
Powerful stuff, that video. It goes to show how strong some people's souls truly are, even when their resources are stretched so thin. Great post.
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