Christmas is a time when we are urged to think of others before ourselves, to reflect on our many blessings, and to look towards the future with renewed hope.
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It is also a call, regardless of your faith or lack thereof, to contemplate the essential benignity of a world in which the overwhelming majority of people would rather do good than harm.
While the festive plans of hundreds of thousands of Australians, and billions more around the globe, have been turned upside down by the resurgence of the coronavirus, there is still much to celebrate, to cherish, and to look forward to.
Yes, it has been a very difficult year. Many have lost loved ones to this pernicious disease. Many, many more have been cut off from meeting family and friends for months at a time. Our elderly have been locked down in nursing homes for their own protection and millions were suddenly thrown out of work.
We have not seen societal disruption on this scale since the world wars, the Great Depression and, of course, the Spanish flu pandemic 100 years ago.
In many countries, including the United States, the pressures generated by COVID-19 have resulted in tears in the fabric of society itself. There have been riots, mass acts of civil disobedience, and orchestrated campaigns to undermine public health measures.
The virus itself was politicised as part of the US presidential election campaign and the result was the highest number of deaths in any country on earth. Other developed nations also fared very badly considering their great wealth and resources.
It has been a year when peoples, and their leaders, have been tested and, in too many cases, found sorely wanting. But Australia has not gone down that path.
Why? Is it just the case that we have always been the "lucky country" and that, on this occasion, our status as an island nation has helped keep the virus at bay?
No. There are no "islands" in the age of international air travel. Hundreds of thousands of people have entered Australia since the pandemic began. The real reason for our salvation from the worst effects of this scourge is the social cohesion we have shown.
Everybody has been called upon to step up, to think of others, and to make some remarkable sacrifices. While some were quick to dismiss the Prime Minister's references to "a Team Australia moment" and his oft repeated refrain that "we're all in this together" others were less cynical and rallied to the cause.
We have shown that, in the words of one well-known literary detective, "either everybody matters or nobody matters". It is a track record to be proud of and proof of the innate decency of this country and its people.
With a very low infection rate compared to most of the rest of the world, safe and proven vaccines on the way, and an economy that is recovering far better than anybody would have dared to hope six to eight months ago, the time has come to consider the bigger picture.
No person, or country, is truly an island complete unto itself and, as the head of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has repeatedly said, this plague is not over anywhere until it is over everywhere.
Rather than basking in our own success we should now be asking what we can do to ensure that the billions of people in the developing world, many of whose governments have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy and total collapse, have the same access to vaccines and medical treatment we take for granted.
If we can make that our legacy then this crisis will not have been wasted.
