Still here

Remember December 21, 2012? The Mayan Apocalypse. Yeah, about that ...

So no matter what the holidays throw at you -- and whatever holiday is doing the throwing -- you will probably survive.

Happy Solstice! 

Interestingly, the "O Antiphon" -- a special verse sung at Evening Prayer in the Roman Catholic liturgy (and a few others) -- assigned to December 21 is in Latin:

O Oriens,

splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

English:

O Morning Star,

splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

(Note: A literal translation of the Latin yields "O Rising Sun", but the poetic "O Morning Star" or "O Dayspring" is often preferred.)

Not coincidental, since the date of Christmas was chosen in the mid-fourth century to coincide with older pagan festivals that celebrated the solstice.