Dark to Light December

A Christmas in Ukraine

December 15, 2024, Sunday. Bleak weather. Apathy. Darkness. Anger. A lack of joy. Death. Destruction. More death. More destruction. Loss of hope. That’s where we are now on a societal level or at least within those we are in touch with. Here stands the difference from those of us who have remained since February 24, 2022, and tried to do something every day to help the military or the needy. Maybe it’s just a perception because it’s not like I can stop people on the street and ask them. I simply know it’s the general consensus among those I do work with. Natasha is sick today. I could not get myself out of bed to go to liturgy and when I took Philly out, the sidewalks were like a skating rink anyway. At my age, you must consider these things when venturing out. Can you imagine suffering a broken hip whilst in a universal tour of the abyss?

Part of it is among our own making. We have stopped going to church. Natasha seems to be sick very often and has not been working out. Sure, we grab small joys where we can, but they dissipate like the smoke from the censer at church. A whiff of the celestial and then the black dog starts barking again. This creature has become more a pestilence than a pest. We can’t ever seem to shake him off completely. Natasha and I are lucky though, we have each other to discuss our problems with. Frankly, I don’t know how we would…