Yesterday was the first day of advent and I am catching up.

When I was in China I remember the lights. Many little (delicious) restaurants adorned their awnings with Christmas lights. These lights, like the ones that adorned the outdoor dance floors or the western-style clubs were festive but unconnected to Christmas.

And there were tons of Christmas cards, hundreds of images of Santa Claus. The imagery of a de-Jesused December holiday coexisted benignly with a government anxious to attract foreign money and commerce.

Without our mad rush for slankets and computerized ear warmers, where would China be?

But that story? The strange one about the God-king’s infant son born in a barn?

Never heard of it.