A few years ago, a woman wrote in exasperation to the editor of her newspaper. She demanded to know why the media always publish negative and sad stories during the holiday season. As she pointed out, "Christmas is supposed to be a happy, joyous time."1 Her letter sounds almost as if she thinks that, even if bad news happens during the holiday season, the newspapers and television should simply ignore those things. Maybe we all wish Christmas time had a kind of protective bubble around it. Christmas could be the oasis we experience instead of the sorrow and tragedy of the rest of the year.

The events behind the bad news just won't have it that way. Rather than a break from bad news, the Christmas season almost seems to create its own kind of bad news. Perhaps we simply notice it more. Thr…