Warning: Christmas greeting ahead.

You just don't know in these "divided we fall" days, how people will take an honest "Merry Christmas". If you're unfamiliar with the story, it's really not one of exclusion. The clergy in my family is not anti-Jewish, any more than they are "God hates F*gs". Please don't fall for that claptrap: that Fred Phelps represents Baptists any more than Bill Donahue speaks for all Catholics.

We're getting busy preparing here as Advent draws to a close, and I don't mean all the wrapping and trappings. On the career front, these are the CLE days, finishing up the Continuing Legal Education requirements before year's end. So posting will be light.

To our Christian readers, secular friends, and those from other religions who celebrate or acknowledge the roots of our tradition: an honest Merry Christmas to you. And if you're not a believer, and are feeling a bit left out on the sidelines as religion and personal characteristics get more and more politicized each year, take note of how gay folks survived the last election. or "Don't throw out the Baby with the bathwater."

Even in the dark times, there is Light.