"You know what I really love this time of year? The deluge of
Christmas cards. I love the photos, the families with kids laughing, the
newborns and baby bumps, the grey heads beaming next to their grands, friends
with their dog or a selfie from their trip to Edinburgh or Santa Fe. So much
life. A few nights ago, as I opened our first stack, I started sobbing. Miska
put her hand on my back. It was not sadness, but all the goodness. In the great
darkness, beauty and love burns on. I looked at each photo and found myself
saying, Drink it in, every ounce, hold the love close.
How is it possible to feel such sorrow and such gratitude all at once? Maybe that’s one of Advent’s threads: being fully attuned to what seems lost or shattered, while also being pierced by brilliant shafts of light." - Winn Collier
