Christmas and all the same old bull

I thought of something wise earlier. I should have written it down. It was a paradox of some sort, but I'm not sure what it's subject was. I guess it doesn't matter now. I was always told that if you forget something it must not have been that important. Well, it's Christmas time now. I've been decorating boxes for presents. It only occured to me abuot a day ago that Christmas is almost here. I'm seriously starting to dislike this holiday. It all seems wasteful and pointless. When I was younger I loved christmas because it was the one time a year beside my birthday that I would get presents and see family. Back then I looked forward to unwrapping presents that "santa" brought. Now I just see it as a hastle. I don't need anything and it seems stupid to come up with things I can ask people for. Besides, I always spend more time trying to get things I think people want. In the end, it's just junk they don't want. I look back and try to find the meaning behind this holiday. I am told this was the day Christ, our Lord and savior, was born. We celebrate giving and love for his birth. But I look around and that's not what I see. I see nothing of Jesus or God. The word Christmas and Happy Holidays I can find, but nothing of Christ. Saying his name seems strange as well. It's something holy and foreign. Hearing his name is almost as hard as finding signs of him, or some acknowledgement of his birth. Sometimes I wish we would stop buying dozens of presents and vow only to buy one gift for the people we love. One gift that shows how much we care for them - one gift to acknowledge how much they mean to us. Then we would gather around and acknowledge what brought us together. I hear songs of peace on earth, angels, and Christmas trees and I am annoyed. I hate Christmas songs. They're always the same, never changing, only distracting. Perhaps I have no authority to speak this way. I have barely read the Bible and I rarely go to church. Who's fault is that though? Our society wants to throw that which is Christian away to make room for tolerance of other religions. I would gladly step aside to make more room, but that doesn't mean we should throw all of our beliefs away. Why can't we accept other religions and celebrate our own at the same time? I can only hope that in the future, when we've moved past all of this prejudism and hate, that we can come together and truely share in all that really matters.

This was not what I initially intended to write, but I hear about this issue all the time now so I thought I should speak for what I believe.

~Jessica