Advent

                                              

That's the make of computer I am using, and it is a true reminder of the meaning and purpose of Advent. My computer is very slow and I have to wait several minutes for it to boot. Sometimes, I am impatient and try and hurry it on, but all that does is make things worse, usually resulting in a frozen screen.

The season of Advent means different things to different people but, to me, it is a reminder that we need waiting time to fully understand the meaning of the incarnation. People waited patiently for hundreds of years for the birth of the Messiah, and when he came he was not at all what they expected. They had the choice of rejecting this rebel from Nazareth or accepting him for who he really was, a human being with feelings just like you and me, but imbued with such an aura of holiness that people could see that God was in him. Those with vested interests, the powerful and the rich, plotted to rid themselves of this harmless baby who grew into a troublesome agitator. They succeeded, but not until he had gathered enough people around him so that his mission could continue.

Easter is the time when we celebrate the new life he gave us all, but only after the horror of crucifixion. Christmas takes us back to the birth of Jesus, told to us in vivid and familiar stories which the writers of the Gospels transmitted in a way which expressed their own personal memories and the stories they learned, as these stories were passed down the generations. They are not historical accounts, but they reflect how the Jesus story has changed ordinary people's lives.

Advent can seem like a long wait, especially for children. But the four weeks enable us to study the dreams and visions of the Old Testament prophets, the life and work of John the Baptist who 'prepared the way of the Lord,  and Mary and Joseph's long wait for the birth of their son who was ignominiously born in a trough (as a farmer's son in Winston insisted was where the cows obtain their food).

But most importantly, we have four weeks to prepare ourselves spiritually, to be worthy of receiving Jesus into our hearts, like the shepherds and the magi, and to be ready to proclaim on Christmas Day that we belong to him. Every morning when I switch on my Advent computer I shall use the waiting time to think and pray.

   

PS  On a  Christmas card I have bought for an as yet undecided recipient, two ladies are at a party and one says to the other 'A virgin birth I can believe, but finding three wise men.....'

PPS The picture of the Advent computer was hidden amongst the religious symbols!