Some Advent Thoughts


This year advent calendars have reached a whole new level. Long gone are
the simple glittery ones with a window for each day and only a picture, even
the chocolate ones are taking second place because this year the shops are
filled with calendars where each window has a gift or a nail polish or a candle
to surprise us and the simple advent calendar, the countdown through advent,
is now itself an object of desire.

This seems odd because the calendar was all about the waiting and not the
calendar itself . Advent is a journey towards Christmas, for children , towards
that moment when they open their eyes on christmas morning . I wonder what
we are waiting on? 

For Christians, advent is about waiting for that moment
when God sent his son into this world to show how much he loved us.
These events take us out of our comfort zone, the things we know and can
explain. It is a mystery and I quite like that, for me that is the magic, a time in
our year like no other, when two worlds seem to come closer and connect.
Where what we know, meets with things we cannot explain and the possibility
that there might be more than we understand breaks through.
So in this journey of advent, in the middle of the shopping and the planning
and the cooking, the waiting for a parking space, or maybe when we open
that calendar, whatever is inside, we can ponder for just a moment the
wonderful mystery, the possibility of something more.

“The angel said to her,”Do not be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious
to you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son , and you will
name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High God.” Luke 1 vs 30-32












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