Advent comes at a fairly inconvenient time, when most of us have full diaries, with little space for reflection, writes Philip Chester of St Matthew’s WestminsterCisco 400-101 exam
Advent comes at a fairly inconvenient time, when most of us have full diaries, with little space for reflection. Short days and long nights with much to preoccupy us; so much to be crammed into so little! It is a time of winter darkness, when the sun is weak and the earth has died and grown cold. It is hardly surprising that the world batters at the door of the church, eager to bring forward the season of good-will, and sing Christmas carols in advance of the event. And of course there is always the odd party. It’s hard to resist all that, and perhaps we shouldn’t try. It is indeed strange that the Advent rush is also the Advent hush. But the very difficulties of this time of the year can conspire to make this a holy season, for reflection and re-ordering are not always best done when our lives are quiet and empty.
There is something in Advent that speaks profoundly to the human condition, making sense of experience and relating it to faith. It is a season of reflection and penitence, a season of mystery: of poetry and haunting themes, wrapped in the most wonderful hymns. It is a season that speaks to us of the Coming of God, in history, in our own experience, and in the fulfilment of all things. However busy we are, however preoccupied, may this season be for all of us a time of blessing.