Light. It’s an amazing part of our world that we often take for granted—until we see it reflected on a child’s face; watch it bob down an open Common in hundreds of separate flames; see it sparkling red and blue and silver and white from holiday decorations. What creates the drama of light is dark—the shadows the light itself creates. The light this week came from the Christmas pageant put on by members of the town’s three churches; Catholic, Congregational, and Unitarian. The Unitarian church filled with the light-hearted sound of young choristers dressed in the choir robes of their own churches, and laughter, when Mary pulled a healthy 6-month-old baby from a hole in the manger wall, then returned it the same way when the baby started fussing in 20 minutes. Spotlights followed angels, kings, and shepherds—one carrying a sheep—through the aisles and onto the stage. After the pageant, hundreds of candles illuminated the walk down the hill from the church to the evergreen tree at the foot of the Common, where the Town Band played Christmas carols and the tree suddenly filled with light.

The dark this week came from board meetings—school, finance, and selectmen—and from the residents and others who attended the meetings. Contract and budget discussions are becoming more rancorous as some people try to keep taxes down while others think increased expenses are necessary. Both sides have good arguments, but there is no right or wrong—just reasonable compromises that need to be made by people who will be living or working with each other after recommendations are made and voters decide what happens next. Facts, not rhetoric or emotion, will help people reach those compromises. So we remind people of two old sayings that might move us out of the dark: “Lighten up!” and “More light, less heat!”