Column: From all of us at CityView, a blessed Christmas to all

There’s just something about Christmas Eve with the calm of night. 

The stockings are hung, the holiday shopping is behind us and the mall parking lots are cleared, and the twinkling lights on the Christmas trees in our homes softly tell us that Santa Claus is on his way.

Different today than more than 2,000 years ago, when shepherds stood vigil over a manger with a virgin graced by immaculate conception about to give us the son of God, who in swaddling clothing would lay in a manger, the Bible tells us, when there was no room at the Bethlehem inn.

Imagine, if you will, the anticipation and wonder of the Christmas Eve of so long ago, and so different from this Christmas Eve come Tuesday, when holiday shoppers will make their way for the last-minute gift, and not to forget the rush to the Dollar Tree for colorful tissue and wrapping paper, ribbons and bows.

Christmas Eve candlelight services will call at churches, where those in attendance will light their candles in darkened sanctuaries, hold them high and sing “Silent Night” and feel the lump in their collective throats as the soprano leads us in “O Holy Night.”

There’s a tranquility to this night — a hope of peace on earth and goodwill toward all as midnight nears. 

For some of us, there will be a moment for visiting a father or mother or husband or wife or child — all gone from our lives now, but all who once celebrated Christmas Eve with us before. You may place a poinsettia or a wreath by their grave and light a candle just to let them know they will always be in your heart, and never forgotten.

Christmas is near, but this is Christmas Eve. 

Our downtown streets are quiet. Not many creatures will be stirring along Hay, Franklin, Person, Rowan, Gillespie and Green this night. 

Back home, it’s one last time for children to look out the bedroom window and gaze into the night with the hope of catching a glimpse of Santa and his sleigh, and then it’s off to bed, because it won’t be long now as the magic of believing is almost here.

With excited youngsters tucked in their beds, elves will be preparing to help St. Nick when he arrives with the red bag across his shoulder, and you just might see “Mommy kissing Santa Claus,” too. 

A sip or two of eggnog, with a splash of bourbon, and a Christmas Eve toast to those we love —  present and past — who have been a part of our lives, and it almost be time for 2.5 billion Christians in the world to sing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king.” 

I’m 75, and still a kid at heart. 

I still believe in Santa Claus and his annual midnight ride. And I believe, and always will believe, that more than 2,000 years ago the son of God was born. Imagine, if you will, the anticipation with the shepherds in wait on a Christmas Eve that for some of us must have been then and is today the most serene night of all. 

A biblical scholar, I am not. It’s just how I was reared by Mama, and what I hold sacred and choose to believe. 

From all of us at CityView, may you have a blessed Christmas. 

Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.

We’re in our third year of CityView Today, and so many of you have been with us from day one in our efforts to bring the news of the city, county, community and Cape Fear region each day. We’re here with a purpose — to deliver the news that matters to you.