Christmas, alone among holidays and seasons, has a seemingly limitless power to transform the human spirit.

What else can make us feel so kindly toward our fellow man? What else can relieve the worries that normally flood our minds? What else can make us feel that all is right with the world?

Of course, gift-giving is part of the transformation we feel, especially when we are surrounded by the contagious excitement of children. But there is something more that touches us than simply admiring the colorful gifts wrapped under the tree — and the anticipation over the joy they may bring.

It’s the certainty that this peaceful feeling has divine origins — and that when our heart is fixed on the existence of God in the world, all other hostilities and pettiness and anxieties fade away.

It is in that moment that we see the Christ child, born more than 2,000 years ago, not just in our mind’s eye but in family, friends and, if we’re really looking, in the lowliest of strangers too.

That epiphany is the greatest gift that Christmas brings.

We wish you, our readers, a joyous, peaceful Christmas 2011.