A Christmas Eve Prayer for Peace

My friends,

If you are reading this on Christmas Eve, my guess is that you are in the middle of a beautiful, chaotic, and holy mess. There are gifts to be wrapped, meals to be cooked, and family members to be loved—even the ones who test our patience.

In the rush to create a perfect Christmas, it is easy to lose the peace that this day is meant to bring. We want it to feel like a scene from a movie, but real life is messier and more complicated than that.

So tonight, I want to offer a simple prayer for all of us: that we might protect the peace of this holy day, not the fantasy of it.

The fantasy says: everyone is perfectly happy, the food is flawless, no one argues, and every gift is received with perfect gratitude.

The peace says: we can be together, even in our brokenness. We can be kind, even when we are tired. We can be grateful, even if things are not perfect.

This Christmas, let us not get so caught up in the performance of joy that we forget to actually experience it. Let us not get so focused on the traditions of the past that we miss the sacred moments of the present.

I am reminded of the first Christmas. It was not perfect. It was not glamorous. It was a humble, messy, and profoundly holy event. A young couple, far from home, in a borrowed stable, with a newborn King. There was no fantasy, but there was a world-changing peace.

So tonight, as you gather with your loved ones, I invite you to let go of the pressure of perfection. Instead, hold on to what is real: the love you have for one another, the grace that is available to us all, and the quiet miracle of being together.

Here are three simple boundaries you can set to protect your peace:

1. A Boundary of Time: Decide when you will arrive and when you will leave. It is okay to need a quiet evening at home. A short, warm visit is better than a long, resentful one.

2. A Boundary of Topics: Decide which conversations you will not participate in today. Politics, old grudges, and money can wait for another day. A simple, “Let’s not talk about that today” is a complete sentence.

3. A Boundary of Roles: You do not have to be the manager of everyone’s happiness. You are responsible for your own contribution, your own kindness, and your own peace. That is enough.

My friends, the real Christmas miracle is not a perfect day. It is the love that is born in the midst of our imperfect lives. It is the grace that meets us in our mess. It is the peace that passes all understanding, even when the turkey is dry or a gift misses the mark.

Tonight, may you find moments of quiet joy. May you extend grace to others and to yourself. And may you remember that the greatest gift we can give one another is not a perfectly wrapped present, but a peacefully present heart.

From my family to yours, a blessed and peaceful Christmas Eve.

With love and prayers,

Winston