And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising god, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  (Luke 2:9-14).

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  2015 is almost behind us, and I don’t think many people will be too sorry to see it go.  Our fellow Americans are being murdered at prayer meetings and at office holiday parties, our friends in Paris were savagely attacked, little children are being driven from their homes in faraway countries, and a candidate for the highest office in our own country has proposed barring the gates to people based on their religion.  (Oh, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are turning over in their graves on that last one.)  In many ways, it’s been a crummy second half of the year – there couldn’t be further from peace on Earth, and as for good will toward men, well, we’ve got precious little of that going around too.

But tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  I’ll be busily wrapping up the last of the gifts, and taking my kids to see Santa (because Peanut requested to go this year – last year she was terrified of poor old Kris Kringle).  But I’ll also be hoping that a little of the spirit of Christmas, what it’s really about (and that’s not sugar, reindeer or the new play kitchen that Peanut will be finding under the tree on Friday morning) will trickle down and infuse the coming year.  We need some of the spirit of Christmas to last us a little bit longer in 2016.

So, tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  And Friday is Christmas.  Which is a day about hope and peace and loving our neighbor.  Let’s go be Christmas, all year long.