Today dawned cloudy and dank, and has proven to be one of those classic raw November days that grace northern New England. There is the hint of snow to come, although the weather service promises there will be none today.
Early this morning Jennie and I went out to The Parkway, one of our favorite diners, for breakfast. The diner is classic in style and menu, serving remarkably delicious food that is locally sourced whenever possible. Yum!
We were up well before dawn, continuing a string of very early morning awakenings. This is a difficult time for mind and spirit, seemingly bad news cascading through the media and our day-to-day lives. I have taken to ignoring Facebook and Twitter after about seven in the evening; this allows me to actually go to sleep most nights. I’ve taken to suggesting friends and clients do the same. When I bend the arc of my intent, and take a late evening peek, I tend to be awake most of the night.
Today marks the First Sunday in Advent, the liturgical season that reminds us oppression, in many forms, resists freedom, and hope arises from darkness. As we await the birth of the Messiah, we are invited to remember that every child is the promised one, prophesied by, and called into being by, the Ancestors. In this time of expectancy we are encouraged to notice and challenge the cruel ways of the oppressor, and to hold up a welcoming light to those who search for sanctuary.
This year, as has been so for most of the past two thousand years, there are many who will hold high the light of hope, and many who will do all in their power to extinguish it. Today we pray all who care for the world will continue to be beacons of light and hope in the gathering darkness, and ask the Ancestors and spirits to watch over you.
Dreaming the World 
Reblogged this on Jennie kristel's Blog and commented:
Michael reflects on the coming of Advent.
It’s been 6 years since I lived by a liturgical calendar. Thank you for reminding me of my ancestors’ traditions, and my own. Connecting and evolving is more honoring than rejecting. “I come not to abolish but to fulfill.” What if we applied that to the thinking of the “fathers of democracy”? Inalienable rights, liberty and justice for all, and other phrases fulfilled over time and social evolution looks like….what? Certainly not a return to colonizing whites dominating the economic and political landscape, I would think.
We live by several, LOL! Mostly we live by the turning year, as, I believe, you do. t is a good way to live.
I, too, have found that politics at night interferes with my sleep – and makes the next day more difficult. I, too, peek and suffer the consequences. It is a struggle because I want to be vigilant and informed, and the most intelligent analysts seem to be at night. I also want to put my head in the sand, but then feel guilt.
Pat I need to trust the best analysis to still be there in the morning. Also that others will be vigilant while I sleep.
LOL – And I know that all the fretting and stewing and turning and tossing the other night didn’t solve any problems for the next day.
Still, we awaken in the deep darkness and fret.
Yes.
Thank you for this beautiful prayer :o)
Love the line/thought about every child called into being by the ancestors.
Andy, this is a very ancient idea, and a live experience for many of us.
May it be so. Praying with you, my friend, this Advent and beyond.
Thank you. Lindsay.
The on-going battle between goodness and evil, light and darkness…we bear it in our spirit.