 The first Christmas wasn’t the kind of holiday we often picture today.
It wasn’t filled with storybook charm or the familiar warmth of a Midwestern gathering. It was something more powerful and transformative. It was the Christmas Mary sang about — the kind that still resonates through the ages. This kind of Christmas centers completely on God.
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 The 322nd school shooting of the year took place this past week. The nations of the world are rattling nuclear sabers in what seems like escalating violence and conflict. Governments that we thought were stable bastions of democracy are falling apart. Health care is a mess. I could go on… I won’t. We always look for a bit of joy in the holiday season. This year, maybe more than ever.
 Our nation has made many positive contributions to human history. A sustained (though often flawed) democracy and peaceful transitions of power, reaching into the heaven to land on the moon, the establishment of a middle class and abundant opportunity for many (but never all), and countless other contributions can be cited.
 Silence can be unsettling at first. It confronts us with voices we’d rather avoid—the noisy and persistent echoes of jealousy, anger, resentment, or the lingering pain of loss and rejection. When we enter into stillness and silence, these voices can seem overwhelming, even deafening, tempting us to escape into distraction or entertainment. It is so easy to take out the phone and avoid the silence.
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