Ever since Newsday’s first holiday season in 1940, the editorial board has used Christmas Eve as a day of reflection. As we wrote in 2016, this is a day to reflect on both the despair at theand violence that consumes us and the hope that humanity will come to its senses.

A recurring focus has been the contradiction and poignancy of celebrating during a time of conflict, fear or uncertainty such as during the Vietnam War or in 2001, three months after terrorism shocked New Yorkers or in 2012 after children were slaughtered in Newtown, Conn. So too, the year that is slipping away has seen too little of the peace on earth we seek. Here is a sampling of reflections from the past five decades.

1993: Is Santa real?

Dear Newsday, I have heard different things, yes and nos, Is there a Santa?

From, Bryan Birbiglia PS: This is important please let me know before Christmas.

Dear Bryan,

Don’t worry. Yes, Santa Claus lives.

What we do know about him is this: Santa is generosity. Santa is trust, Santa is unreserved love for children. Santa is joy. Santa Claus exists for those who believe in him. Open your heart, and he will come.

Your Friends at Newsday

1999: Dickens’ message

It’s hard to imagine how the human heart could be suddenly transformed. But it has been imagined: Charles Dickens did it in his 1843 classic, “A Christmas Carol.” Confronted with the grim reality of his life, spiraling down toward a lonely cold grave in a harsh world he did nothing to improve, Ebenezer Scrooge is finally overcome by conscience.

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year,” he resolves. Dickens ranks as one of the world’s great figures because he understood that for all the hardness of the human heart, there is also a quality of mercy that can be summoned.

If there was ever a time for the summoning trumpet to sound, it is now, during the Christmas season. And there is never a time when that trumpet should fall silent, even if, amid the din and spin, it is sometimes hard to hear.

1973: 'Tis the season for comparisons

If this holiday season seems a little bleak — what with curtailed airline flights, voluntary gas rationing and a presidential ban on decorative outdoor lighting a brief look backward may give it some perspective.

On this day a year ago, Newsday was full of stories about an ugly war in Southeast Asia. The bombing of North Vietnam was to be suspended for Christmas, but for hundreds of American families it was just another holiday without a son or husband who had been taken prisoner or reported missing in this war. A year ago today, the Long Island Railroad was nearing the end of its longest strike ever.

It goes without saying that the world is an imperfect place, and there’s never a dearth of reasons not to be jolly about its condition. But there are seasons to forget the imperfections and rejoice together in the pleasures nearly everyone can share. This, of course, is one of those seasons; it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that Americans have more to rejoice about than most.

2014: Let hope kindle better days

It’s little surprise the holiday season comes at the end of the year. That’s when we need it most. After 12 tough months, we have to re-boot. And these last 12 months have been brutal in many ways. The headlines of 2014 hammered us relentlessly, most recently with the ambush killings of two police officers in Brooklyn, reminding us of the horrors that can befall us and the horrors we inflict on ourselves. The Islamic State rose, Syria collapsed, the word beheading was heard more often. The deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police wrenched the nation into a searing conversation about race, power and perception. And most recently, the Taliban killed dozens of students in Pakistan, two years and two days after the slaughter in Newtown. The smallest coffins, indeed, are the heaviest.

The holidays are supposed to be the antidote. We wish each other peace and goodwill, no matter our religion. We seek relief, we reflect, and we pivot toward optimism about the year ahead. But is seeking relief a sign of sanity or a form of blindness? Is optimism naive or an ex-pression of faith that goodness at some point will prevail?

We cannot let dreadful acts consume us. So gather with friends and family. Bask in their warmth and love. Walk the line between remembering the past and yearning for the future. And hope for happier and less unsettling days to come.

2021: The good that’s all around us

If we have learned anything since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that has robbed us of one holiday season and is threatening another, it is that modern life — for all its luxuries and advances and comforts — still is precarious.

Life has always been a thin sheet of ice like this even if we don’t always realize.

Those who have suffered health crises know just how everything can change in an instant. Lost jobs, lost loved ones, unexpected challenges — all combine to disrupt the comfortable notion that what is here today will be there tomorrow. That is why, around this time of year, it is so important to embrace and bolster the good that exists around us. The fragility of our reality is what makes time with family and friends so precious.

1982: Wish for readers

On this page, Newsday usually expresses its views on matters of local, state and national importance: politics, government, the economy, defense, international affairs, the triumphs of the Islanders and the travails of the Mets.

Today we would like to diverge briefly for a more personal note and to wish all our readers — those who are sometimes exasperated by what we say as well as those who consistently agree with us — the happiest of holidays and the best of new years.

2025: Looking ahead

Onward to 2026! Thank you for traveling life’s bumpy road with us.

 — The Newsday editorial board