I am writing this just before a poetry evening to be held in Madehurst church. Advent will shortly be upon us and I will top and tail this with poetry. RS Thomas ends his poem “Kneeling” with the simplest of lines:
“The meaning is in the waiting”.
I don’t like waiting. Our society seems not to like it either: we want things now. Perhaps that is why Advent is out of fashion. A pity because Thomas’ simple line contains much truth. December speeds up like an express train with so much to do and prepare. In the blink of an eye we miss its meaning because we are just too busy, the diary too full, the “to do” list going over the page. And yet if we will wait and give space to ponder the potential significance of the birth of the Christ child – love coming into the world as a helpless babe – we might learn much, not only about God’s nature and our calling to reflect that vulnerable love, but also to have hope in a world that seems full of hard things.
St John in his great Prologue to his gospel, takes both the truth of hardship and that of hope seriously and in one sentence: “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” It seems to me both people of faith and those without can reflect on that truth, even if on different levels. This Christian narrative of Jesus’ birth can be for all people and in all times – which is perhaps why, over 2000 years since the event, it holds a powerful resonance. We see hardship and vulnerability in our world and sometimes in our own lives. We can, I think sadly, see much darkness at this time. And yet we can also be people of hope – to see also the redeeming power of love’s vulnerability and operation.
And, for those of faith, this helpless babe born in a smelly stable to a family who could find no room in the inn is uniquely revealing of the nature of the God who, as St John tells us elsewhere, is the God of love. The light at the end of the tunnel – which gets darker along the way on Good Friday – is, of course, Easter morning.
All these things need reflection and however urgent the “to do” list is, wherever each of us is on our spiritual journey, take time this Advent to wait, to reflect on what this story tells us – about life and about God. There are four discussion groups planned on the four Mondays beginning 25th November, (details in the Rambling Rector), looking at how we can grow in faith and in that hope of god’s love for us, even when we seem to be in darkness.
And I end with a well-known poem about Christmas, not only (for once) easy to understand, but also a poem that gives me hope. It is BC:AD by UA Fanthorpe:
This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future’s
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.
This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.
This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.
And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect
Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.
And this comes with my best wishes and hope for a peaceful and happy Christmas to you all.
Peter