Christmas, 7 January 2009

A happy Christmas to everyone marking it today.

This is a Christmas arriving after a difficult autumn, and in a good many houses the table tonight will be a smaller version of last year's. I want to say something about that without dressing it up.

The evening does not require abundance. It requires the order — the same dishes brought in the same sequence, the place kept for the absent, the carol sung badly by whoever is willing. A modest table performed properly is the holiday. An expensive one performed carelessly is a dinner.

Whatever the year has been, a peaceful evening to you and to everyone at your table.