Finally people are listening to us. Now we can stop carrying this terrible silent burden alone within our families.

It's a long wondrous way from fake feathers to real gratitude. Let's go there together.

When you live out of the way, as we do in northwest Missouri, you do for yourself and for others — or, many times, it doesn't get done. Every Christmas, we do a lot.

Religious demographer John C. Green has just released a report comparing conservative and progressive religious activists. They are definitely different breeds. They view almost every issue and every candidate from totally different perspectives. Conservatives concentrate on abortion and same-sex marriage; progressive religious activists are more concerned with "economic justice" and the environment. They also view the Bible differently. Half the religious conservatives see the Bible as the literal word of God; only 3% of the progressives hold that view.

They also come from different places. Green reports:

"There are significant differences in the types of communities that conservative and progressive activists call home. Conservative activists are more likely to live in rural areas or small towns (25% vs. 16%), while progressive activists are more likely to live in major cities and their surrounding suburbs (40% vs. 31%). Roughly equal numbers of conservative and progressive activists live in small or medium cities and their surrounding suburbs."