Dreaming the World

We awoke to clear skies, frosty windows, and twelve degree temps. Nori the cat went to the briefly open door, happily smelled the outside world, fluffed up to a much larger size, and fled.

I received my new computer glasses Wednesday. To say they are a blessing would be an understatement. They provided immediate relief, and enabled me to catch up on some of the backlog. I’m slowly getting used to both the computer and the everyday pairs. Sometimes my new progressives still create rolling ground under my feet, but this is fortunately lessening

Our small herd of deer seems to have added a couple of members. They often appear in the late afternoon, just before bedding down in our tiny wood. They can be quite destructive but most of the time their presence just seems a blessing.

We have entered the Christian liturgical season of Advent, the four weeks prior to Christmas. The season has long been cooped by advertisers but more recently their season begins in October and is not connected to the liturgical calendar.

Advent is the time of retelling the story of Jesus’ birth, complete with, colonialism, tyranny and genocide. I am often amazed at how conveniently sanitized many churches have made the story. Maybe that is due to the uncanny resemblance of some contemporary political figures to the villains in the story. No wonder so many people of colour, including the Native identified half of my family, raised up the Christmas story!

This year, as we enter Advent, the real threat of war in Europe looms over the season. I imagine this might have been how my grandparents felt in 1939. May this threat pass and sanity make a surprising and rapid return. May all of our friends who live with the threat of war be safe.