Newsletter December 5th 2021 (2nd Sunday of Advent)

We are all Advent people

Poor old Advent. It gets stampeded. It is overrun. Who cares about Advent – it is only an unruly intruder on the way to Christmas. But it isn’t. Advent drags us back to basics. The very essence of humanity means patience. We can easily get overwhelmed by the ‘fast lane of life.’ We are in such a hurry. We want everything now. We rush from experience to experience. We can’t cope with the bigness of life. Stop. Look. Listen. The simple message of Advent is to glance back at the Jews, waiting for the Saviour to come. If we have (similar) feelings; we can feel with them. We can easily link up our own waiting in life, to their waiting.

Waiting for a child to be born. Waiting for day to come. Waiting for buses. Waiting for an appointment in a hospital. Waiting in A&E is a very good indicator of Advent. Waiting for the end of winter. Waiting for the sun to shine. Waiting to get well. Waiting for pain to go. Waiting to grow up. Waiting for visitors. But above all, it is learning not to live just in the present moment. It is stopping ourselves being addicted to the concerns of only today. Advent reminds us to be much bigger in our thinking. Look around. Stop. Think of the past. Look at nature. Look at the companions of life. Be grateful. Never be consumed by NOW. See the broader picture.