Let's Be Real

No argument there.

There were similar holidays celebrated around this same time of year (including Hanukkah), but when one looks into the details, that had little bearing as to how the church chose the date.

The church had a celebration on Mar. 25 (another date not mentioned in the Bible, but a traditionally given date) as the day the angel spoke to Mary about being conceived by the Holy Spirit. Nine months from conception is Dec. 25. Eventually, the date where everyone gets presents (in an imitation of the wise men) is the holiday that became more famous, and people hardly remember the Mar. 25 celebration at all anymore. I had to do a lot of research myself to find it out.

Well, it depends on the individual. I celebrate secular Christmas, with Santa, reindeer, presents, a tree, stockings and a good dinner. (I know many of these traditions have religious origins, but are so far removed from their original context as to reasonably be considered secular)
Some people celebrate with manger scenes (I know there's a name for that, but I can't remember), church services, and my family had this wierd thing where we wrote a letter for Santa to take to Jesus.

OP, I still owe you replies from the other day, my bad.

Looking forward to it, but don't feel like it takes precedence over other things you know you need to do. At least I know that I have a tendency to force things when God has different timing in mind.

Christmas is often *is* about commercialism, but that doesn't mean it *should* be. And the point of the special is that we need to be reminded sometimes of how things should be.