I feel it coming again. It comes in little bits and pieces this early in the season, but it’s coming. That feeling that I’ve been getting this time of year for the last five years or so. I like, and do not like, this season. I’ve written about it before and if you’re interested, you can find those writings.

I know it’s not Advent yet, but this sums it up:

 “In Advent, we are made aware that the hours of darkness are lengthening. The days grow shorter. Night seems to consume the world. Perhaps we feel the darkness in our own hearts, our own lives, our own prayer: we look for some sign of God and see nothing. Perhaps we are oppressed by the darkness of the world around us: we notice the poor living without shelter on our streets, we hear the cry of the hungry, we are alerted to wars and rumors of war. We yearn to see the day when Christ will come in all his glory to put an end to darkness of every kind. It has been said that in Advent we live in the night with our faces turned toward the unseen dawn. Hosea reminds us of the central conviction of the Advent spirit: ‘as certain as the dawn is his coming.’ Let us pray in hope for the rising of the Sun.”

– from the Magnificat

“…alerted to wars and rumors of wars…”

Even more so this year….

Sigh.