"I have been but little in," said Ninian hastily...

It was cold this morning, and it is even colder tonight. Now, after Midwinter's Feast has come and gone, it is finally seeming a little like winter here. It was 31*F this morning when I got out of my car at work, and it is 26*F now, as I come in from a chilly walk to see the stars and the cold, and the nearby weather stations are reporting lower, just above 20.

So let me leave you with this: not for its religious content, but because it's EXACTLY what I think of when it's this cold and this dark and this wintry. A church, lit by candles, with young toffs and old codgers and mums with babies--with families, in other words--and music and a message of love.

Last night, belatedly, I got out my channukiah and lit candles for the first two nights of the holiday. It was really nice to read the prayers and see the lights burning in the darkness.

How ever we do it, I like the idea of bringing light to the darkness of winter, proclaiming hope for peace on earth, "learning new ways from the old, making sense of history, and drawing warmth out of the cold".