Darkening

Advent (up here in the northern hemisphere) coincides with the shortening of days. Here in New York we've had pretty bright weather - though a bitter cold front has just arrived - but the dark is rising. In church this morning, the familiar words from Isaiah, inspiration for the famous "Peaceable Kingdom" paintings of Edward Hicks,

The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
and a little child shall lead them. (11:6)

crystallized for me a rising sense of the injustice of the world, of the impunity of the privileged and powerful in their oppression of the poor and vulnerable. How wonderful such a peaceable kingdom would be. How long overdue. And how hard to imagine.