Christmas is often a little louder than other times of year. It is a season, after all, that is filled with jingle bells, caroling, reindeer hooves on rooftops, squeals of delighted children and the scraping of plates at holiday feasts. There are other noises as well. The eery silence of a loved one lost,

the yelling of family gatherings gone bad, or the hum of a Christmas movie reminding you of your own loneliness are all sounds some of us experience at Christmas. Maybe more than any other year we could use some good news to cut through all the noise of Christmas.