As I always do, at the December meeting of my atheist discussion group, I give all in attendance a little Christmas treat.  Last year it was a candy cane; this year, it was a peppermint and chocolate treat.  Unlike last year, when one of the group wished me, when I greeted her with "Merry Christmas," a "Sweet Solstice," everyone responded to me with, "Merry Christmas."
     Even though no one in the group finds any reason to believe the evidence for the historicity of Jesus, and even though no one in the group plans to attend church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, all of them, like almost all of us, find a measure of joy in the Christmas season.  It could be the happiness of family; it could be a thoughtful gift; it could be a new grandchild; it could be a host of other things.  Christmas's aura is unique in the Western imagination.  Its power, however one defines, it nearly universal.
     This is a good thing.  We all benefit when our fellow human beings, even if for a very brief season, become more intentional about how we love each other.  We all profit when a little more love seeps into the world.
     Theology aside, this is the marvel and wonder of Christmas:  love becomes ever more visible in the world.  Though some would say that this is a psychological response to a particular cultural ethos, it seems more likely that, if God did in fact come into history as a human being then, clearly, we--and our history--can never be the same.

                                                 MERRY CHRISTMAS!