J is for Jesus

Even if you haven't guessed what I would write about so far in this Advent Alphabet, you probably guessed this one.   Maybe to you it sounds a bit trite to say Jesus is the Reason for the Season, but so he is.

Many of my readers share my own faith but many more want to hear the Christmas story.  When I was in the regular vicars I introduced a service of Christingle on Christmas Eve because parents wanted their children to hear the central story on Christmas Eve and they wanted to hear it in church, from the vicar and not just from the telly.  I know it was a high point of Christmas for many parishioners to the extent that I had to do the same service twice every Christmas Eve so that everyone could get in.  If I'd stayed longer I think we might have had three sittings!

I know that commercial tat screams louder than Christian truth but the excitement around Christmas means that most people do hear the spiritual message, and many who do not come to church regularly, come at this time.  Few people can tell me the story of the Ascension Pentecost or the Resurrection as confidently as they can tell the Christmas story.  If they don't know the Nativity story it's highly unlikely they know the others!

H is for Hope

The advent wreath has four candles and in many traditions they represent Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.

Hope is a small, single candle, shining boldly against the darkness.  It doesn't pretend everything is perfect, rather it trusts that God is at work even when we can't see what he's up to.

Today's candle, peace invites us to slow down and make room for Christ's peace to enter us and show in our words and actions.

Next week's candle, joy, won't mean loudness either.  It's about God stepping into our imperfect world, and about seeing him in kindness offered, in moments of peace.  Joy strengthens our hearts as we journey towards Christmas.  

The final candle, the fourth Sunday in Advent, speaks of love.  God draws near us in quiet ways, for love is never forced, never loud, never distant.  Advent love is patient. It makes room. It listens. 

May you know hope, peace, joy and love this Advent.

C is for candles

 

These days I have LED candles.  I know real candles are prettier but for all sorts of reasons I go for rechargeable LED jobbies.  But, not matter what, candles are probably my favourite Christmas decoration. 

There’s something timeless about the soft glow of a candle.  What is it about a simple flame that feels so essential to Christmas?

A few days before Christmas it will be the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night here in the northern hemisphere.  Light symbolises triumph over darkness, hope replacing despair.  Even the smallest light can change the atmosphere around it.  So candles remind us of that tiny baby

On Sunday the first candle of the Advent wreath was lit in church.   Each Sunday leading to Christmas, another will be lit.  The ritual slows us down, if only for a moment, encouraging us to reflect while we rush through December’s to-do lists.  Candles do something that lurid Christmas lights can’t: they create ambiance.

There is something wonderful in a candle: it offers a moment of stillness.   In a season known for its hustle, a lit candle slows the pace.

This Christmas, may the soft light of candles calm and brighten your home and your spirit.

A is for Advent Sunday

 Don't believe what the Advent Calendar manufacturers tell you:  tomorrow is not the first day of Advent.  Today is.  It's the fourth Sunday before Christmas, the day to light the first candle on the advent wreath.  Commercial companies have made sure you can't open the first window on your "Advent" calendar until tomorrow.

I've brought my Advent stable into the house ready for tomorrow.  No figures out yet, though.  It's empty, a space where a wonderful story will emerge.

I'm the sort of person who starts Christmas preparation as soon as possible after Christmas because I want to let Advent be Advent: a time of spiritual preparation.  The Christmas tree won't go up for a couple of weeks yet.  Most presents are made and wrapped, cards are ready to be posted.  Most of the seasonal food is in the freezer.  The music is more, "O come, O come Emmanuel" than "Hark, the herald angels sing".  

So this Advent Sunday is the quiet day before the rest of the world realises that Advent has begun.  It's a day of faith and waiting on God.

The cultivation of Christmas trees

 

The Cultivation of Christmas Trees

T.S. Eliot

There are several attitudes towards Christmas,

Some of which we may disregard:

The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,

The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),

And the childish – which is not that of the child

For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel

Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree

Is not only a decoration, but an angel. 

The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:

Let him continue in the spirit of wonder

At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;

So that the glittering rapture, the amazement

Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree,

So that the surprises, delight in new possessions

(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell),

The expectation of the goose or turkey

And the expected awe on its appearance, 

So that the reverence and the gaiety

May not be forgotten in later experience,

In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium,

The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure,

Or in the piety of the convert

Which may be tainted with a self-conceit

Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children

(And here I remember also with gratitude

St.Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire): 

So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas

(By “eightieth” meaning whichever is last)

The accumulated memories of annual emotion

May be concentrated into a great joy

Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion

When fear came upon every soul:

Because the beginning shall remind us of the end

And the first coming of the second coming.

(I know it's not Advent yet, but I won't be posting poems during Advent.  )   

 

C is for Christmas

 I almost started this post by saying "Sorry about that" but I don't feel apologetic  There are eighty eight more sleeps before Christmas so no need to panic, but I want to get a good start on my preparations now. 

I know I've said this before, but when I was in the regular vicars I knew I had to have my personal Christmas prepared (cards written, presents bought and wrapped etc) by the end of October or I didn't get a personal Christmas.  November I prepared my professional Christmas and then in December I went to all the carol services, Christmas parties and general socialising that I was invited to and still had time for the funerals and pastoral visiting which are part of every minister's everyday life.  

Once I retired I let early preparation slip a bit, but last year I made a very determined effort to get ready for Christmas really early, and I was so glad that I did.  December I was able to enjoy Advent and then Christmas, I was able to reflect and pray and the real meaning of Christmas was able to shine though the razzmatazz.  

So, here are two of the first presents I have made.  I made something similar for several friends last year but these are destined for friends who live in different parts of the country.  Each wreath will have to be mailed so they are robust enough to be posted.  My cards are written but left unsealed in case of last minute messages.