O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is hard to beat for sad and solemn days.

I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

...as I often do, and paged through a big book of Christmas music. I kept seeing holly-jolly things that I just wasn't in the mood for, but got to O Holy Night and thought, this has about the right feel about it, and it did.

Good choice, ce. Our lights are on.

for bad times to the list. "Christmas in New York" from 2001 by Shilelagh Law will (unfortunately) be once again very relevant this Christmas season. For the victims, the victims' families, and for the first responders who arrived to see the unspeakable.