A thought from an article in Salon by David Brin. I find it, and the article as a whole, cheering in these restive, often melancholy times:

Already we are in an era when no worthwhile skill is ever lost, if it can draw the eye of some small corps of amateurs. Today there are more expert flint-knappers than in the Paleolithic. More sword makers than during the Middle Ages. Vastly more surface area of hobbyist telescopes than instruments owned by all governments and universities, put together.

On that note, whatever the holy days that you cherish, may this season bring light.