“December is here; it’s bringing good cheer, and Santa Claus soon with his sleigh will appear.” While this is quoted from a children’s Christmas song, it nevertheless communicates an important point: In this month of December, we ought to be cheerful even as we wait because Christmas is coming with all its gifts and blessings. For Christians, this means the birth of Jesus, the light and savior of the world. But for everyone, the spirit of Christmas is a spirit of generosity, of togetherness, of charity, of love, of peace. During World War I, among the most brutal wars of all time, British and German soldiers held a truce at Christmas, singing carols and playing soccer instead of shooting at each other. Even in the middle of No Man’s Land, Christmas brought peace and hope.

We may not be in the middle of No Man’s Land, but the world is under constant assault by both natural disasters and human failings. Harvey hit Texas in August, Irma hit Florida in September, and Maria hit Puerto Rico in October. Sexual assault stories dominate the media; Harvey Weinstein, Roy Moore, Al Franken and Matt Lauer are just some of the many accused.

When the media isn’t talking about sexual assault, it’s talking about Trump’s divisive and inflammatory tweets. Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear posturing--and Trump’s counter-posturing--pose a significant threat to world peace and security. The Rohingya are being systematically attacked and slaughtered in Myanmar. Yemen’s civil war has exploded into an outright humanitarian crisis, with many facing famine and a cholera epidemic from lack of clean water. In such circumstances, it is hard to hold out hope that things will get better.

Yet this is the Christmas season, when even in the middle of No Man’s Land the soldiers forged a peace (if only for a time). It’s true that there’s nothing we can do personally about the majority of these problems, but we should not allow them to bring us to despair. Natural disasters and human evils have happened before, and while many were killed or permanently harmed, the world went on.

Those who believe in an afterlife can be comforted by the fact that the unjustly killed are in a better place now, but we all observe that on the whole, humanity survived. Every single doomsday prediction up to this point (of which there are many) has proven false, even those made in truly dire circumstances like the Cuban Missile Crisis.

What makes today different? Nothing. Humanity has always found a way to survive and thrive no matter what the circumstances, and we will continue to do so.

So in this pre-Christmas season especially, the season when we joyfully anticipate the coming of light, peace, love, charity, and togetherness, we ought to hold out hope despite all the crises the world is going through. Things will get better in the long run; they always do. Of course, it is man’s duty to man to do what we can to help make sure they get better. Where there is darkness, division and hate in our communities, it is our job to sow light, peace and love.

But when there is nothing we can do, we must not lose hope. Oftentimes it takes the combined effort of many people, or even supernatural effort, to solve these problems. But it always happens eventually. The forces of good will always find a way to reconcile enemies and care for the needy. So in this pre-Christmas season, when we eagerly await the ordinary joys of exchanging gifts, singing carols, and bonding with our families and friends, let us also eagerly await the spirit of Christmas--the peace and charity that will deliver us from evil.