RIPENING ON ANOTHER CHRISTMAS EVE TREE

"And the days dwindle down...to a precious few...September.... November..." When Walter Houston sang that classic in the 1938 "Knickerbocker Holiday," he gave us an anthem to aging. However, aging -- like ripening -- comes in a wide variety of stages. Which stage might you be in right now...?

If you're one of tonight's restless Christmas kids, age blissfully has no meaning. You simply are who you are and expect to pretty much be this way forever; except maybe taller...

If you're one of tonight's Santa-Parents, age is simply a hint of shadows to come; for now you easily remain convinced there are far more sunrises than shadows ahead...

If you're one of tonight's street crews and underground teams, age is defined largely in terms of muscle mass; so long as you've still got it, you're still able to play your indispensable part in the great drama of the city....

If you're one of the clergy preparing for services, age on earth as you will remind your flock is but an instant when compared with age in the eternity to which we must inevitably look...

If you're one of the frail elders somewhere alone, age is not a concept, it is who and what you are. Depending upon how you've prepared for it, age is your companion or you enemy...

And if you're President Obama, your youth is your best weapon against age; for you will need all the vigor and vision of youth to carry the punishing burdens you asked to bear. And while the world of both friends and enemies roar in the stands, you are the one who must now stand in the arena. To face the lions you chose to confront.

May the stands offer a prayer rather than a curse tonight, for young or old we're all in this coliseum together.