My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?

Hope reduces Christmas to an ethical minimum: the practice of love toward other people. By contrasting “old-fashioned or modern,” he suggests that debates over tradition, style, or commercial trappings miss the holiday’s core. The closing question turns the sentiment outward, challenging seasonal charity as insufficient if it is confined to a single date. In effect, the line reframes Christmas not as an event but as a standard of everyday conduct—an appeal to make generosity, patience, and care habitual rather than occasional. The humor is gentle but pointed: if loving others is the point, postponing it until late December is a moral absurdity.