It's...Christmas Time...I Guess...

Don't get me wrong...I love Christmas. Anyone who knows me knows that. It's just that all I can think about right now is all of the people I met working at Mission Possible in Vancouver. I wonder what they think of Christmas. Do they dread it? Or, despite their poverty, are they able to enjoy it still?
Christmas is the time to love. It says so in songs, on cards, and people talk about it...but Christmas seems to be the most selfish time of year. People get so caught up in getting, and decorating, and baking, and writing Christmas newsletters...the list goes on. These people I met this summer don't have the option of getting caught up in that. Maybe they get caught up in how they're going to make it through. Just how cold are they right now? Why should I get anything for Christmas if they don't?
I've always thought of the holidays as being so happy, but can they still be just as happy when you can't give your kid that doll she wants, or you can't make a big Christmas feast, or you can't roast chesnuts over a warm fire?
My life is so...easy. Sure, things can get crazy and stressfull preparing for holiday stuff, but the dominant feeling is still happiness. I look forward to Christmas all year long, because all I've ever known is a 'Merry Christmas' my whole life. But what if Christmas isn't so merry after all? What if it's only merry if you have the money to make it that way?
I can't even count how many times I've heard "Money doesn't buy happiness." But if that's true, why is our culture so focused on getting stuff, getting money? Has our world made that statement false? Have people lost all sense of real happiness? What really makes people happy these days?