Welcome back to Infinite Threads. I’m your host, Bob.

Tonight is Christmas Eve.And I don’t know how your day has gone, or what the year has felt like for you…but I want to say something softly here at the edge of the holiday:

If you’re still here, still feeling, still trying to bring some love into this world—that matters.

More than you probably know.

Christmas Eve is many things to many people.For some, it’s tradition. A full house. The smells from the kitchen, familiar songs, tired feet, and warm conversation.For others, it’s quiet. A night that feels too still. A table with fewer chairs. A silence filled with memories.

And some people are somewhere in between — holding joy and grief in the same breath. Missing someone they can’t call. Remembering Christmases that feel impossibly far away, even if they were just a few years ago.

But no matter where you fall in all of that — I hope you’ll let yourself pause tonight.

Just for a moment.Not to “do” Christmas.Not to make anything happen.But to notice what’s already here.

Because there’s a kind of glow on this night that doesn’t come from candles or trees or streetlights.It comes from connection.From presence.From the way people lower their guard just a little, if only for a day.From the way we try, in our own clumsy and beautiful ways, to love each other a little better.

When I think of the glow of Christmas Eve, I don’t think of perfection.I think of my own family. I think of late nights and wrapping paper. I think of burnt rolls and improvised stories and laughter that came after long days.I think of moments that weren’t planned but somehow lasted.

The glow I remember — and still feel — came from being with people who loved each other even when they didn’t know how to say it.

And I think that’s what this night is really about.Not the pageantry. Not the expectations.But the gathering.The way hearts seem to lean in, even if they’re across a phone line or a memory or a thousand miles.

And if you’re alone tonight — really alone — I want to say this gently:

You are still in the circle.You are not forgotten.You are not invisible.The thread includes you.

Sometimes the holidays can make the distance between us feel wider.Social media doesn’t help. Neither does comparison.But love is not measured in how full your house is.It’s measured in how open your heart is — even when there’s no one physically near you.

There’s a kind of bravery in keeping your heart open on a night like this.And if you’re doing that — even just a little —I see you.And I’m proud of you.

There’s something sacred about this kind of pause.This hush.Even if the world around you is noisy, even if your evening is full of activity, there’s a stillness available to us if we want it.

A moment to check in with ourselves.

To ask:

* Who am I carrying in my heart tonight?

* What do I wish I could say to someone I miss?

* What part of me needs gentleness right now?

* And what light, however small, am I still able to offer?

This is not about fixing anything.It’s about letting the night be what it is —and letting yourself be part of it, without pretense.

There’s a kind of light that shows up in people this time of year.A softness around the eyes. A little more patience. A little more warmth in the voice.We know it when we feel it.

It’s not tied to religion or tradition or culture. It’s older than any of those things.

It’s the light that’s woven into the way we were made.

The glow that gathers us.

The one that reminds us —we’re not meant to do this alone.We were never meant to.

Tonight, maybe all you need to do is breathe in that truth.

You don’t have to solve anything.You don’t have to be cheerful.You don’t have to “rise to the occasion.”You don’t even have to feel festive.

Just let yourself rest.Let yourself remember someone you love.Let yourself be loved — even if that love is silent, distant, or invisible to everyone else.

Because it’s still real.It still counts.And it’s still part of the thread that runs through all of us.

I hope you know this:You are loved.You are needed.And your softness tonight is not weakness — it’s grace.

Let that glow gather around you,and if you have any left to share —pass it on.

Merry Christmas Eve.

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