What is the meaning of Christmas?

Christmas is set aside to celebrate the birth of Christ. The date is really not known. Dec 25 is the just the date that was set aside for celebrating. The Christmas tree is actually mentioned in the Bible somewhere, I'm not sure what chapter, but it really does come into the celebration part. There is no correlation between Christ and Saint Nicholas. There really was a St. Nick in a European country hundreds of years ago that when at Christmastime he really went into the poor people's houses on Christmas Eve while they were sleeping and left a little token/gift for the children. The flying reindeer and the North Pole and elves, etc., have all come through history made up by man and are a myth but it's for children to believe in if they want. They find out soon enough that Santa was really mom and dad. The gift giving comes from when the night Christ was born, the three Wise Men came to the manger bearing gifts and that is why we give gifts to one another. (You didn't ask that specifically but that's how giving gifts to one another came about) No, Christ and Saint Nicholas are not the same. Christ is the Son of God whether you are a Christian or not. Even Christians let their kids believe in Santa but still explain to them that Christmas is really about Christ's birth. That's where the saying comes from: Jesus is the Reason for the Season. It's also about good will to one another and peace and having that feeling inside that unfortunately most of us only get at Christmastime. If we all could keep it inside all of the time, the world might be a better place. An early Merry Christmas to you and yours.