Between the economy and our constant state of war, I felt... trepidation more than cheer this year.

What would 2008 bring?
Would it bring the happiness, prosperity, and health that every civilization considers the virtues of a year well-lived?
Or would it bring war, foreclosure, and natural disaster beyond our wildest imaginings?

Faith becomes a slippery thing in a world as cruel as ours. It slips away entirely, or, if grasped in a final desperate grab for something to which to cling in unstable times, it becomes a trap, luring the faithful into giving up on this world in favor of the promises of the next.