Somewhere, perhaps in another dimension, there is a place.
Undimmed by threats of war, uncertainty, fear, or oppression.
Perhaps, an Undying Lands beyond the sundering seas of Middle Earth.
Where the summer sun shines warmly and the seasons turn to gentle rains, and where the winters never bring cold loneliness or misery.
Where beauty never fades but yet always re-blooms.
It is Thanksgiving season and I am thankful for the simple things I have. The freedoms which, thus far, have not yet been stolen from me. The fact that I am not facing a brutal and murderous war in my homeland. The fact that I still have my health.
But yet insecure and fearful, knowing how easily these things can be taken from me.
I am thankful for all the beauty and simple joys that I still have.
But with all the darkness, fear, and oppression in this world, sometimes I wish there was a place to escape to. Like the Elves of Middle Earth, or a far sunlit never-never land. Because sometimes it seems like the darkness in this world is only growing stronger, and it is all I can do to shine a light into it, and push back. I meet some religious people, but they offer no solace or even hope when all it can offer is, "Well, the world is ending anyway, it's the End Times, so screw you and your false hope." And then they wonder why people turn away from God.
But I won't turn away from the Light, from joy, love, and all things harmonious and beautiful, and the hope that somewhere, even if it's just in my mind, there is such a place where these things never fade, and cannot be taken away by the cruelties of this world and the heartless inhabitants thereof.
Adults never outgrow their need for a perfect fairyland, do they.
Thanks for reading.