Advent…... Josie writes
Here we are, so soon it seems, approaching Christmas.
Much is written in Christian circles about consumerism and the iniquities of the plastic and the tinsel and the spending at this time. I sometimes wish they would be a little less vocal about this. Christmas is a huge part of our culture – and we should as Christians be grateful for that. We make judgements about people’s understanding of the Christmas story – but often I hear the birth of Jesus mentioned in the most tender and prayerful ways by people who may not identify themselves as Christian.
I love to be out and about in the shops as Christmas approaches – the conversations are wonderful – full of what to buy for Auntie Joan or how many more presents have still to be bought. There are anxieties but there are also joys. So this Christmas, if we are involved with all of this, we should enjoy it and give thanks to God that we have people to buy presents for and families to cook for.
But there is of course another side to this. There are those for whom the festivities of Christmas are an ordeal to be gone through – because they have no-one who cares for them and no-one to care for. For many, it is the loneliest time of the year. And as Christians we can think about our neighbours and acquaintances and offer the best gift of all to any who we think might be alone – the gift of inclusion.
December is the Church season of Advent; the time of beginning in the Christian calendar, but it is also a time of waiting. Underneath all the presents and the puddings and the panic, underneath the excitement and the joys and the sorrows, there is a great silence. For now we wait.
We know what we are waiting for. We are waiting for the answer to the question – what is the meaning of life? Does our life have a purpose? The birth of Jesus into our history says that God has directly intervened in human affairs to make clear what that purpose is. Our purpose is to live with, to be at one with, God – Ultimate Reality - in unimaginable Love.
And the astonishing thing is that we have been given the gift of knowing this. Such a gift.
As we choose our Christmas lights, write our Christmas cards, or make our mince pies, we can stop for a moment, become quite still and enter the great silence. Rest and marvel, fall to our knees in gratitude for the profound, deep, overwhelming knowledge that because of the birth of Jesus, we don’t have to change, grow or be good, to be loved.
All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken of by the Lord through the prophet:
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
Matthew 1: 22.23.
Added: 7th December 2009 || Submitted by: Revd Josie Partridge.
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