Christmas Eve and all is quiet

Everyone is home for Christmas and they are all still upstairs in bed. It is quiet in the house. Today I am going to be looking for that Christmas Eve stillness that can be found in the quiet times. There is a depth to the silence on Christmas Eve that seems more intense than at any other time of year, if only you can find it. Think of a solitary candle shining out in the dark from a farmhouse window on a snowy hillside. The night is clear and the sky is full of stars, travelling with a bright moon.  The silence rings in the air, the frost descends, all is still and peace is revealed upon the land. I shall steal away tonight for a little while to find that moment of stillness and then I shall know that Christmas has begun.