This morning I was hit with a dilemma, not a major one as dilemmas go but nonetheless...
Last weekend we made our Christmas cake, and the smell of that fruit (with, it has to be said, a decent amount of brandy) was a lovely reminder of the flavours of that season. We wrapped it up and put it away to be enjoyed nearer the time.
Jump to this morning ….
I have a friend coming for coffee and so I decided to pick up some cake in the local shop, and of course they were selling small slices of Christmas cake. So do I wait to enjoy this cake in its proper season and let the anticipation build, or do I indulge early and scratch the itch...?
We are not too far from the season of Advent , this Sunday is the 2nd Sunday before Advent and it will take us into the Church's season of waiting. Waiting and anticipating the birth of Jesus and his coming again. We will spend time reflecting on what it means to be in the " in between time", this season of waiting...If it's anything like previous years, the waiting will be good, it will help give time to really think about what Christmas really means. What we are celebrating underneath all the noise and sparkle and what it means to our lives to believe the gospel.
We don't wait for much nowadays, our packages arrive the same day they are posted, our information arrives instantly our travel time is reduced ( not always true if you are commuting to London- but compared to earlier ages.)
Yet for all that we miss something for there is meaning in the waiting, there is richness in the time - even waiting to taste the fruits of the season...
Moments of great calm,
Kneeling before an altar
Of wood in a stone church
In summer, waiting for the God
To speak; . . .
. . . Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting. R.S Thomas
Last weekend we made our Christmas cake, and the smell of that fruit (with, it has to be said, a decent amount of brandy) was a lovely reminder of the flavours of that season. We wrapped it up and put it away to be enjoyed nearer the time.
Jump to this morning ….
I have a friend coming for coffee and so I decided to pick up some cake in the local shop, and of course they were selling small slices of Christmas cake. So do I wait to enjoy this cake in its proper season and let the anticipation build, or do I indulge early and scratch the itch...?
We are not too far from the season of Advent , this Sunday is the 2nd Sunday before Advent and it will take us into the Church's season of waiting. Waiting and anticipating the birth of Jesus and his coming again. We will spend time reflecting on what it means to be in the " in between time", this season of waiting...If it's anything like previous years, the waiting will be good, it will help give time to really think about what Christmas really means. What we are celebrating underneath all the noise and sparkle and what it means to our lives to believe the gospel.
We don't wait for much nowadays, our packages arrive the same day they are posted, our information arrives instantly our travel time is reduced ( not always true if you are commuting to London- but compared to earlier ages.)
Yet for all that we miss something for there is meaning in the waiting, there is richness in the time - even waiting to taste the fruits of the season...
Moments of great calm,
Kneeling before an altar
Of wood in a stone church
In summer, waiting for the God
To speak; . . .
. . . Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting. R.S Thomas
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