As darkness falls ...

The candle in this photo is on my dining-room windowsill. The table is at the window, and I have candles lit at dinner whenever it's dark outside, as the dark garden seems to loom into the room without them. There are actually two candles, but not here - the second one is the reflection in the window.

My view of this season of the year is very much coloured by where we live, and though we had these wonderfully blue-sky days last week, it is darkness that I associate with Advent - the darkness of a day like today, the early dark of the afternoon, the interior darkness of those who wait, hope, pray for something better.

Today I feel our world a dark place, with dark forces at work in society and in our political future. But through it all we go on living, loving, laughing. As the darkness falls, we light a candle. There is a crack in everything - that's how the light gets in ...*




*Leonard Cohen: Anthem