Let's be honest about the holiday season
You know me, i make a point to never go, nothing useful there.
I'm sorry you feel that way. Being with my friends and celebrating with them at church restores my faith in mankind. There are still some good and decent people out there. My fellow church members have become some of my best friends and I look forward to seeing them once a week. We do a lot of volunteer work for the local community. We host a pancakes with Santa. All the money raised went to help local charities provide Christmas for those in need. Every year we have a giving tree where we provide a gift to those who probably wouldn't get one otherwise. All of the tags are taken the first week and some families are upset because they didn't get to donate a gift.
Just last night we worked a Christmas in the Park light display. We were paid $1000 for six hours of work. ALL of that money will go to local charities. We hand out candy and accept donations that help offset the cost of the 350k + lights. We see the smiles on the children's faces when they know they are getting a piece of candy and we wish EVERYONE a Merry Christmas, not happy holidays. Some people feel bad that they have nothing to donate, and we let them know that it is okay. Some people drop $20 in the pot. Some people drive right by in their brand new cars and don't even slow down. God loves them all.
This year my college age son gave me the best gift I could have gotten. He made it a point to come home in time to go to Christmas eve mass with us. My friends noticed that he was there and he was welcomed home like he was their son.
I agree with others that the commercialization of Christmas has kind of ruined it for some people, and that is sad. Being with my family on Christmas, opening gifts, eating good food, watching a movie or two, makes it all worth while.