On a cold Christmas Eve in 1952, when Korea was in the throes of civil war, one young woman struggled along a village street, obviously soon to deliver a child. She pleaded with passersby, "Help me! Please. My baby." No one paid any attention to her. A middle-aged couple walked by. The wife pushed away the young mother and sneered, "Where's...

When I think of Christmas, I often think of something that happened during my school-teaching days. The school I taught in was very old. It had fourteen-foot ceilings and huge windows. The kids who attended this ghetto school were tough, and they were extremely poor. Maybe that’s how they got to be so tough. Determined to make it special Christmas...

Gifts. The wise men came bearing them, the Romans charitably gave them and our great- grandparents exchanged them. And yet, of all the Christmas traditions, this is the one I struggle with most. Obligation overtakes joy. Exhaustion halts blessing. And crankiness saps creativity. What to buy for the person who has everything? Never mind the absurdity...