We come together tonight to remember the history, or the myth, that says hope was born in the form of a baby named Jesus.

What is so compelling about the story of Jesus’s birth, his life, his love? Why has this story reached across the ages to us while so many others have faded into history?

Jesus embodies the best of what humanity can be: compassionate, humble, brave, and mortal. Jesus asks us to make the most of our life, to create joy where there is pain, to care for the poor and question the powerful, and —perhaps most importantly — to question the purpose of our own lives. What will we leave in our wake? In whom will we be reborn? What light can we bring in the darkness? Tonight, on the eve of Christmas, we contemplate the significance that one person can have, and revel in the joy of possibilities.