I’ve taken the week off and plan to take off next week unless some news item prods me to write. Plus, it is the time of year to reflect on what has been and will come, so I encourage you to take this downtime for your own contemplations.

Disclaimer: The title is based solely on the date. I’m not subjecting any of you to any specific Christian rituals, nor do I expect you to share any of my beliefs (or anyone else’s, for that matter!) After all, the theme of this newsletter has been encouraging you to think for yourself about Science and its ever-improving understanding of our world. So it’s decidedly not about Religion, even if that religion is Environmentalism.

—Jonathan