I have no doubt many of you, in the last fifty-one weeks, have done your bit to raise the aggregate happiness of our species with the odd donation here, the simple acts of kindness, the reassuring smile to total strangers, the extra mile at work to support a colleague, the check on a sick neighbour, the hug for a bereaved person, the ‘Spare change’ to a homeless person, and even the odd reach out to a friend on Facebook. Alas, all these actions would not have been felt by many who live with the fear of homelessness, hunger, disease, war, natural disasters, bigotry and loneliness. The utterly sad reality is that while nature, in what to some might have felt like fits of anger, has been the cause of much suffering and fear, many more would have had lives more hopeful and happier if fellow mortals had not deliberately sought to spread wickedness or failed miserably to act decisively against the spread of evil.

So far this year, we have seen strong suggestions of chemical weapons use in Syria, Al Qaeda proxies spreading religious hatred and horror in Mali and Nigeria, gains from the Arab Spring threatened and even reversed in places, and outbreaks of religious violence in the Central African Republic. We have also seen the world’s newest country, South Sudan, looking like a candidate for disintegration before most people realise it even exists or find it on the map.  Russia’s increasingly homophobic noises and the racism on its football pitch met with an absence of leadership from the International Olympic Committee and football’s (soccer’s) governing body, as well as a determination by Uganda not to be outdone on homophobia. Meanwhile, millions in the world’s resource richest continent have seen failed policies, and even the absence of policy, condemn them to disease, premature death and the oppression of poverty, as the absence of safe drinking water, lack of adequate medical facilities or credible efforts to create employment combine to prove there is more to freedom than being able to vote. However, all is not lost.

Reaction to Typhoon Haiyan’s havoc in the Philippines confirmed the reservoir of human kindness has not dried up. Furthermore, the long expected but still saddening news of the death of Nelson Mandela, a man we already knew or got informed was a man the like of whom humanity will not see again challenged us to be better. Goodness, decency, selflessness, commitment, humility and courage will every now and again merge into a synergetic force for good. Barack Obama reminded us, we will not get to be as good as Mandela but should be inspired to be better people. Fittingly, at Mandela’s memorial service, Obama was ‘Mandelaesque’ – ooh, I just made that word up – by warmly shaking hands with Cuba’s Raoul Castro.  Hey, if you want peace it is your enemies you talk to; right?

Anyway, you all need to go have your Christmas lunches and open presents. Some might even do a trip to the Church just to remind us it is supposed to be a celebration of Jesus’s birth and not about getting the retail sector a shot in the arm. On the matter of lunch, let us think and pray for those families that will have an empty place at the table this Christmas. Whether it was to illness, the recklessness of others, misfortune, or the fight for our freedoms and safety, may the grieving hearts of their families find the strength, faith and support needed to push through the hurt.

Merry Christmas to you all.