It's that time of day when I look out my window and see darkness approaching. It comes earlier and earlier as the days move relentlessly towards the winter solstice. I am deep into Advent, my favorite season. Merton said that "the Advent mystery is the beginning of the end of all in us that is not yet Christ". It seems to me there is so much that is "not yet Christ." Yet, in contradiction to the hopelessness that nothing will ever change --- that we are caught in a vicious cycle that regurgitates absurdity, violence, and self-centeredness --- we are given an incredible promise of renewal by a God who is fully present in creation but scarcely known by us busy bodies. The promise --- The Anointed One will bring light into this darkness! That's it. That's what we wait for. That's what we hope for, even as we "quench the Spirit" by praying for a parking space at the mall instead of for that light of love to shine into the darkest recesses of our lost souls. It's now almost completely dark outside my window. The street lights illuminate the street. The Light of Christ? It's out there, too, as well as within me waiting to be recognized.