Christmas celebrations: The earlier the better

My friends are constantly annoyed with me from July until November because I start celebrating Christmas in July.
I admit, it gets pretty bad. I start decorating really early, and I listen to Christmas music pretty darn often. But what you (and I’m hoping my roommates) must realize is that there is always a reason for it all.
1) Yes, I love commercialism. Shamelessly. I buy into almost every Christmas gimmick. Are those bells I hear? Yes, I should definitely shop at Macy’s for the pre-pre-pre-Christmas sale. “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” tells me that New York City is beautiful at Christmas? Oh, I will definitely beg my parents every year to take a train there until we do go. I honestly feel, though, that it enhances the holiday a lot.
2) The feelings that Christmas brings are better than those year-round. In spite of Black Friday violence, people (myself included) are generally nicer for Christmas. Maybe they are remembering Christ’s love for them, maybe the eggnog was particularly strong at dinner. Whatever the case is, people are nicer.
3) The music. The music is phenomenal. First, you’ve got your secular and jingly songs like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” and the Carpenter’s “Merry Christmas, Darling” (Christina Perri has a fantastic new cover of that song that just came out). Second, you’ve got the really sweet and sappy songs (think Newsong’s “The Christmas Shoes” or Celestial Navigation’s beautiful narration of “The Train”). Third, you have some beautiful old and new interpretations of classic Christmas hymns. I believe my absolute favorite is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” And the beautiful thing about the last set is that they never get old. They are never outdated. I personally feel that they are meant to be sung year-round, but the roommates who have to listen to them for that long would probably disagree.
4) In my ideal world, it is cold at Christmas-time. And this is a big deal for me, as I absolutely despise snow and cold weather (I have drawn a line around the most southeastern states and told everyone that I will not move outside of that line for fear of too much snow). Honestly, I think Christmas is better experienced in a Currier and Ives setting. Let’s just quit all this wishing for snow after the new year. One month of cold weather is plenty long enough.
5) As a Christian, I have not forgotten why the holiday is being celebrated in the first place. Christmas, though often only celebrated as a time of giving and loving, is also a beautiful reminder of the Gospel.
Though my friends will probably not stop telling me that I am creating Grinches through my excessive celebration, I will not stop. This holly-day (see what I did there?) is too wonderful to be celebrated for a month.