Musings - on the editor's mind

Saturday will be the shortest day of the year. All month darkness has come earlier and daily the sun has risen later. Slowly, oh so slowly, come mid-January, the darkness will lift. We are in the middle, not the end of the season of darkness.

People, however, are the species of hope, as we are the only species with art in its culture. “Hope is the thing with feathers” wrote Emily Dickinson.

For Christians, next week celebrates the birth of Jesus. Church founders placed that birth at the darkest moment of the year. All around them, people were celebrating. The birth of the son of God would join...