Excerpt from "A Cold Winter's Night That Was So Deep."

(The story is a variation of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. The Scrooge of the story, named William, is an average-not evil-man who is visited by none other than Christ himself, identified in the story as "the Stranger" on Christmas Eve. At one point, they visit Alex Lach, his wife Mala, and their daughter Jenny, her husband Phil, and grandchildren Johnny, Alicia, and Jordan, as they prepare to celebrate the holiday by acting out a family tradition. They tell the story about how they, Polish Jews who had escaped from Auschwitz, converted to Christianity and celebrated their first Christmas.)



"And now, children," Alex continued, "it is finally time to tell you about our first Christmas!"

"Yeah!" cheered the children, as if dessert was being served.

"Jenny, would you turn off the lights?" Alex requested, as he picked up the cord leading to the Christmas tree lights. Built into the cord was an on and off switch which Alex placed his thumb over.

The room was plunged into darkness, except for whatever light which filtered in through the curtains. Jenny returned to her seat beside Phil.

"It's too dark!" complained Jordan.

"Don't worry, child," reassured Alex. "It will be light again soon. But you must wait in the dark for a little bit, and hear the rest of the story first. You do want to hear the rest of the story, don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Very good. Now, this is just how dark Mr.Greenberg's house was on Christmas Eve, when we got there.

"Your Gramma had spent all day preparing for this. First she and Anja made some tarts and cookies to bring to the folks that were there. Then she wrapped my present with some paper that Anja let her have, and then she and Anja got dressed. Oh, how pretty she looked in her new dress that Anja had given her! As for me, I came home from work-we still had to work, even though it was Christmas Eve-and got into my best suit. I didn't have to wrap any packages since I had already left the planter and bulbs with Mr. Greenberg, so I could give them to her at the party.

"When we were ready we all got into Solomon's car, and he drove us to the party. As I already said, the house was dark when we got there. Mr. and Mrs. Greenberg greeted us at the door, and brought us into their big living room. There were no lights on even inside."

Alex paused, in order to let the darkness have full effect, and then asked, in a shadowy, quiet voice; "Do you know what happened next?"

The children shouted out the answer with joy and excitement. "They turned on the Christmas tree!"

Alex acted shocked. "Somebody told you!"

The children giggled with delight.

"Well, that's exactly what they did!" And so saying, he flipped the switch with his thumb.

The tree lit up like a thousand candles of wondrous hope in the despairing darkness. Lights of radiant firetruck red danced across the ceiling, courtesy of the tinsel, which also added its' shiny talents to the other colors. The bright emerald green lights were enhanced by the darker green of the pine needles. The blue light, produced by bluer than blue lightbulbs, was so deep that you could wade in it, and those that were sunshine yellow and white spread their illumination everywhere. And brightest of all, a silvery star adorned the top of the tree, pointing the way straight up to heaven.

Everyone “oohed” and “aahed” in appreciation and delight at the seeming miracle of light that joyously paraded before them. Jordan's eyes seemed to especially reflect the luminous celebration going on in front of them, and he participated in the revelry by throwing his arms into the air, and shouting "Yeah!" with all the energy stored up in his little body.

William felt like a small child as he gazed in wonderment at the miracle of the tree; the layers of age seemed to have been flayed away from his eyes, everything seemed to luminesce with a brilliance that he had somehow forgotten how to see as he had gotten older.

"We didn't know it then," Alex continued, "but Mr. Greenberg had not only invited us, but all of our friends from church too! And when the Christmas tree lights came on, what do you think they all shouted at us?"

In answer, everyone in the room-adults, William, and the stranger included-shouted "Merry Christmas!", and Alex conducted them exuberantly with his hands, as if leading the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The stranger's right hand rested on William's left shoulder. "Come," he said. "There is nothing more to learn here."

William followed him through the melting wall before them, and, when everything had settled, he discovered that they were on a dirt road in the middle of a vast desert. Off in the distance he saw a walled city that he knew he had seen pictures of somewhere, but couldn't otherwise identify. The road that they were on led up to a large gate that opened into that city. He could see several buildings, which reminded him of the ancient ruins of Greece, peeking over the wall.

"I am so ashamed of myself," he said.

The stranger said nothing, but gazed at the city in the distance.

"I didn't know," William continued. "How could I know, though? There are no roadmaps, no guides to life that tell us how to know another man's heart!"

"You're wrong William," the stranger said, without looking at him. "You have the Word of God, which you have so far kept on a shelf where it gathered dust."