Christmas Lights

I love walking in the evening at Christmastime.  All of the lights from within houses like hearths, or little rectangular beacons, glow to draw family home.  I can't pass them without thinking of the home I grew up in.   I can take the cold a little longer, walk a little further than I thought, if I know my steps will end at my door with a little light like this.
But as I run by, slivers passing in a blur, I wonder what effect they have on a lonely heart.  Is it a comfort to have them shining to break up the miles in the night, or do they just intensifying the darkness around them by comparison?  When I have Christmas at my home, I want it to draw in hearts like that.

 (my Flickr)