What is it about November that makes me melancholy? Is it the weather – always changing, neither fall nor winter? Is it the kick off of All Saints Day followed hard on the heels by Remembrance Day? Is it that there is a forced joviality in the stores as Christmas garish decorations take centre stage and saccharine sweet Christmas songs blast through the PA system? I am not sure but i noticed yesterday as I considered the last day of November that the whole month had passed without a blog post. YIKES! Had I nothing to say into cyberspace? Was there no reflection to be had? Was there no deep and illustrious perspective to be shared? Guess not !!!
But now, it is December 1st and Advent has begun. Advent, that slow and reflective season that takes us to Christmas. I have stirred my stumps enough to get some green boughs cut and placed in a vase on the table. I have rousted out the candles for the Advent wreath and begun to count the weeks. I have succumbed to the pressure of the warnings from all and sundry and purchased my Christmas tree before they are all snapped up by eager shoppers. It remains cool and slumped in the garage until a day closer to the festive 25th when it is decorated and standing gaily in my living room. But still there is a somber feeling in my soul.
What filters through to make us feel that way we do? Weather? Maybe. Busy schedules? Perhaps. Boredom? Could be. I think for me, this year, this season, it is the continuing anxiety of the impact of Covid. It brings with it such a wave of unease and it stifles all planning and anticipation. Sentences are peppered with phrases like, “Well, if we aren’t shut down.”. People are reluctant to make firm plans and when they do they face anxiety about travel, social gatherings, etc. Celebrations long looked forward to continue to be tamped down by restrictions and worry. Family members in hospital cannot be visited by more than one or two designated visitors. Businesses teeter on the edge of bankruptcy. Traditional family outings to celebrate the season are being cancelled again this year. Choirs, if they sing at all, are socially distanced and lacking in exuberance. I am so tired of the whole business and it makes me … well … MELANCHOLY!!
I am spending this first day of December searching for signs of hope. We light the first candle on the Advent wreath and we call it the candle of hope. Can I defeat this melancholy with reminders of hope? Well, dear readers, I am stuck! I need help. Send me a text, a message, an email, make a comment below, telling me what your sign of hope is on this dismal day as December dawns. I need your encouragement. Can I honestly say, “Hope is on the way”? Please tell me it is.
I feel like you. COP 26 didn’t help either. But the beautiful music of Advent wafting over us last Sunday was just what we needed, songs of waiting, a bit of melancholy, and hope.
Oh that sense of melancholy is familiar to us all! At times it is harder to find hope, but it is there to find. I look out the window at the water lapping at the shore. It is ever changing and ever the same. I heard the laughter of our church craft group as I sorted books for a book sale in the church basement. We are having lunch with friends. The sun is streaming in the kitchen window. I think I will keep looking! I think there might be more…
Greetings Jill and family👋🏽
Seeing the water every day is what we appreciated so very much when au Lake Erie this last September.
We are safe, dry and living quietly in White Rock.
I can swim every day just down the hall.
Church and community volunteering has adjusted to COVID and that is important to us. No El Salvador though or teaching although I did renew my certificate just in case.
Faith just moved away to live with her sister on the band land in Campbell River.
We shall see…….
Blessings, Cheryl🧡
For me, there is the reflection that we are indeed further along this year than last year -no lockdowns- and that with the utilization of vaccines we are indeed safer than before, though not completely so. Before vaccines the only option we had was isolation but with the vaccine we have a mighty weapon in our arsenal. But it is only as good as those who are willing to use it and that is what makes me morose. But I can pray that more are willing to “do the right thing for humanity” and soon we will all be able to freely live and love again. It is that thought that makes me step outside the door each day and embrace the day for all that it holds.
Nance and friends, this is not profound but it is hopeful (and very west coast).
«Optimism follows rain that flooded hatchery » Peace Arch News Nov25/21.
….after torrential rains salmon were spotted spawning in the facility’s driveway, parking lot and grassy areas. More than 100 were returned to the river….many fry that had been in the hatchery’s coho pond awaiting a spring release ended up in the river well ahead of schedule……..