You don't need to be an Elder god this time of year but it might help.  Lots of people who are otherwise very  hearty Pagans manage to get to the holiday (yeah, pick one) table and find they have nothing to say. They haven't yet "come out" to their family which complicates an already tricky situation. No matter how firm we are in our spiritual convictions, when we are in our parents' homes we revert to being wayward kids, the weirdoes of the family.  We go from being Lord High Muck of Bucklebury Ferry to being Billy, the fat kid with the wandering eye.

It happens. If you are very fortunate and mature it may not be so for you. I hope you know how blessed you are. My parents are dead so I get to choose how I spend the day without reverting to the fat girl who only wanted a pony.

So you are looking at spending time with people you may disagree with politically and spiritually but who have offered you the sacred gift of their hospitality.  Here's where you get to show how Pagan you are, even if you have to answer to your "mundane" name of Linda and keep your pentacle tucked in the collar of your shirt.

You can choose to act with dignity and honor.  You can return their rancor by loving them unconditionally. You can choose to set an example for the nieces and nephews by being the cool one in the family.

Remember to ground yourself and set some shields...and let them be.  You are unlikely to change them by loud arguments about the "real" Jesus. Change the subject, hold yourself in silence and patience.  Let them be who they are and you be who you are--calm, wise, patient and loving.

And, if all else fails, take a nice long walk. Get outside into the nature you love and breathe deeply.  Feel the wind or the rain or the snow on your face and renew your connection to the natural world.  Look at the tree in the den and let it be your living altar, your place of peace.

You may be the best Pagan you can be by letting them be who they are--and showing them love anyway. By remembering that the dinner table is not a social media brawl in which your sarcasm will always  win you a dozen "likes," you may find it easier to slip into a beatific smile than to argue about things you can never fix, that rub you the wrong way but are only a danger to your ego and sense of primacy.

Let it go. Have some pie.  Play Scrabble. Be a good Pagan, even if you hate being called "Linda."

Was hael!