A few weeks ago, this appeared on my boarding house prayer
board, written by one of the children...
Of course this is childish innocence and it did make me giggle. Everyone remembers the
endless wait for Christmas morning, wishing the day, and the presents that come
with it, would come faster. I was the same as a child, but as I’ve grown older
I’ve begun to really dislike the earlier and earlier start to Christmas. I
shudder when I see mince pies in October – or was it September this year? – and
November Christmas music in shops makes me want to cover my ears and shout ‘LA
LA LAAAA’ loudly to block it out, as I run from the establishment to take my
custom elsewhere.
I know what you’re thinking. ‘She is, in fact, Scrooge
incarnate. Or perhaps the Grinch who stole Christmas. Where does she get her make up from to hide
her green skin?’ However, none of this is because I hate Christmas: it’s
because I love Advent. Advent is one of my favourite times of the year and it
saddens me to see it subsumed in the headlong, glittering rush for Christmas
day.
I fully understand why this Christmas mania occurs. In our
Northern hemisphere, the period around Christmas is dark. Dark, dreary and
cold. Christmas offers light and joy and warmth at a time of year when these
seem to have died under a sharp frost, but in trying to artificially
manufacture these qualities before their due time, we lose the poignancy and
quiet hopefulness of Advent.
Advent, which means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’ particularly of
one who is expected, is the time of year when we remember the seemingly
endless 400 year wait of the Jewish people for the promised Messiah. For those
who trusted in God, they must have been long, dark years. The prophets had
ceased to speak and even God Himself seemed to have fallen silent. During
Advent, we remember the wait for the Messiah and are reminded that we ourselves
must also wait on God. Wait for answers to prayer, wait for sorrow to be
replaced by joy, wait for light to shine in the darkness. When we give in to
the instant gratification of Christmas sparkle before the fullness of time, we
forget how to wait on a God who has promised to shine His light into our
darkness and chase it away, if only we will let Him.
Here you are! And what a thoughtful first post. I must say I agree, although I am enjoying the Christmas Lights at least. Bah Humbug! No mince pies until Christmas Dinner!
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