The seasonal message of peace and goodwill is sadly not in evidence in various conflict zones around the world, and many innocent civilians have little chance of joy in the new year.
Syria is enduring another bleak winter of discontent in its near three-year civil war. While progress has been made on the chemical weapons front, it is ''conventional'' weapons which have done and continue to do the major damage.
Figures vary, but the United Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR, puts the death toll at more than 100,000 and says more than a third of the population is now displaced - more than 4 million within its borders and another 2.3 million refugees who have fled the war-torn country, in what it says is one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history.
Other Middle Eastern and African conflicts continue to simmer, including the Jewish/Palestinian conflict, terrorists and suicide bombers remain active in places like Iraq and Yemen, and Egypt's new and uneasy democracy continues to be marked by sporadic violence.
A year's unrest in the Central African Republic has seen tens of thousands displaced and South Sudan is now in the spotlight.
The young country seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war, but ethnic bloodletting is believed to have claimed the lives of thousands in the past couple of weeks alone, tens of thousands have fled their homes, and reports of mass graves have led the United Nations to bolster its peacekeeping force to 12,500 amid fears of further violence.
New Zealanders hear and read the stories and see the pictures from such war zones - and sadly they are nothing new.
In our peace-loving nation we are so removed from that reality it is easy to become inured to the violence, and certainly difficult to comprehend how ethnic or religious divisions can result in such atrocities.
While we have our ''differences'', any anger from any group or individual usually takes the form of largely peaceful protest action.
It is therefore timely to consider how fortunate we are and how our willingness to accommodate each other creates the peaceful society we cherish.
In his first Christmas address as leader of the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis talked of the importance of unity in achieving peace, comments that were a marked contrast to the attitude of former pope Benedict.
He called for atheists to unite with believers - of all religions - and to work to make peace a ''daily commitment'', a ''homemade peace'' between neighbours that could spread throughout the world and between nations.
His message has real weight, and his willingness to reach beyond his ''own'' religion is one to inspire, like much he has already done in his short time as pontiff.
His message that peacemaking starts at home is also important.
As we look towards a new year, we must realise we do not have to belong to a particular faith to practise peace and love in our approaches to our family, friends, and neighbours and strangers alike.
We can be welcoming of visitors to our country, and supportive of those fleeing conflict in their homes by providing peace and sanctuary for them as they seek to rebuild their lives here.
We can choose not to resort to anger and violence in our dealings with people, and in doing so we can and will create a more peaceful society.
For the longer any violence is endured - whether it be global, national, ethnic, religious or domestic - the more entrenched it becomes, and the longer it takes to break the cycle and reverse its long-term effects.
Violence only creates more anger, more betrayal, more fear. It leaves people with nothing.
With nothing left to lose, further conflict is assured.
New Zealanders have a proud role as peacekeepers in the world's trouble spots.
We are fortunate that we can be peacemakers at home, too.
