Find friends to attend church service with

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/12/2015 (3572 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I feel sad when I have to go to church alone on Christmas Eve. My husband doesn’t believe in it and won’t attend with me. It’s always a source of conflict and it lowers my feelings for him and spoils a part of Christmas for me. Why won’t he just come and enjoy the music and fake it for me? He says he would feel like a hypocrite. We were not married in a church, and I always felt bad about that.

— Alone at Christmas Service, River Heights

Dear Alone at Service: You need to find a pal or two who enjoy going to Christmas services, and go with them to church every year as a fun ritual. You could go to a late-afternoon service and then you’ll feel good going into the evening with your husband and family. Carol singing is often a separate afternoon or evening event at different churches you can attend with those same pals every year. It’s better to have your own church pals than to be resentful of your husband every Christmas, or guilting him into going with you just to have him sit there, bored and fidgeting.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6

Miss Lonelyhearts
Advice Columnist

   Read full biography