And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it

 Many people attempt to write about the Gospels, and about the story of Christ.  But to see things as they are, one must understand both darkness and light -- and especially in the terms of Christ's language of illumination and darkness.  

To enter into the Gospels is to encounter the light shining in the darkness; the darkness that is the world that doesn't know the light, and the light that is Christ coming into the world.  The date of the celebration of the birth of Christ reflects that light coming into the world; it coincides with the solstice, when the light begins to grow and the days lengthen.

Christ taught that one must take very careful measure of the light that we allow to illumine our "eye" -- meaning our mind, that through which we apprehend life and the world.  "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23; in the Sermon on the Mount).  If we choose to "see" by the darkness, our whole lives, our way of life, our apprehension about how to walk in the world is dark indeed.