Merry Christmas

Some say that ever again that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated
The bird of dawning sings all night long
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; the no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch has power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.

— Hamlet, Act I, Scene 1

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

— Isaiah 9:6 (Handel’s Messiah, Part the First, sung in chorus)

Without question, Christmas is the premier holiday (and holy day for many) in our country, and elsewhere in most of the world, as there few places in the world where Christians, of one stripe or another, do not exist and reside. Even so, Christmas is a secular and national holiday for many of different religious traditions, and even atheists and agnostics.

All of this is for good reasons, all of which do not have to be analyzed today. Suffice to say that no individual has had the profound impact on the world of Jesus of Nazareth. Even after 2,000 years his birth that day (whichever the exact date was) is celebrated.

God bless us, every one.

— Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Merry Christmas to all.