For the end of Advent (pre-Christmas message)

This is probably the last post from myself before Christmas, and as its not Christmas yet I won't wish you a happy one.  You'll have to take that as being said from the evening of the 24th; from the moment of the first sighting of a star in the sky the celebrations will begin with my family, as is the tradition in Poland.

Negev memorial by Dani Karavan

What I can say is this: To all my subscribers (via the RSS Feed), those who follow the blog, those in the Wrocław workshops Facebook page as well various online platforms (such as the Polish "Stop right-wing extremism" and "Hardcore" groups and the Israeli anti-fascist football "Fussballogie" blog, the "Magazine of Christian unrest" and the "Expat Exchange" group) and all other people who are masochistic enough to wish to read my rantings and ravings, I would like to wish you a big

THANK YOU

for your support this year.

I've been concentrating on things like cultural understanding this year, though since September have been focussing more on anti-fascist stuff.  Especially lately I've been writing some pretty dark and complaining articles.  It's relevant, as in this (as in the Christian liturgical calender) time of Advent it's a time to focus on things like the darker areas of life.

Continuing my willful disregard for the maxim that a blog should stick to one subject

Here's a bit of theology: Using an understanding of Antonio Gramsci and Walter Rauschenbusch I can say that a consideration of such dark matters (at a societal level) are a natural component of things like fighting discrimination and working for cultural understanding (especially when one considers Rauschenbursch's understanding of John the Baptist, a feature in the past Advent week).

Totally in that spirit, therefore, I give you a song for the rest of the time before Christmas; a song about "Filling the hungry with good things and sending the rich empty away":

It's a beautiful piece, no?  The born in Estonia Arvo Pärt is one of my favourite composers.  Note how one can sing along to the text and music :)

Should you live in a country that doesn't allow you to see the above video, try this one.

While I shall return to further dark matters next year, I shall also come back to very nice areas, such as further examples of animation and music.

I hope your pre-Christmas/Hannukah time goes peacefully!