Oh, but the darkness keeps trying. And so we celebrate Christmas with light: lights on the trees, lights on our houses, lights on the tables, candles in the church, fire in the fireplace. We look to the happiness of the children. Of course it still is the case that, for too many, there’s no room at the inn, no home, no family, no friends. It is never enough, of course, never sufficient — not considering the Gift we have been given — but I will allow myself the indulgence of being a little proud of my family and my friends, my church, our community, the good-hearted people of our country, the quiet, gracious people who quietly do what can be done (or at least some of what can be done), who share their wealth and their time, who have in them the kindness and the generosity that never have come easily to me, who do not forget, and who by their modest example share the immeasurably greater promise that there is room at our Father’s table and in our Father’s house for all of us, that it doesn’t have to be as cold as it sometimes seems it is, that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.