THOUGHTS TO PONDER

Christmas comes at a time of darkness – shorter days, wilder weather, winter woollies, and for those fortunate enough to have them, log fires. We look forward to the activities and celebrations of the season – reunions with families and friends, singing, inevitably a degree of feasting, and equally inevitably some remembrance of other Christmas times. There’s tinsel, canned music and unbridled commercialism galore. And there’s war in Afghanistan and grieving families, poverty in the greater part of the world, injustice reflected daily through the media, and all too often, sorrow in our own communities.

Advent reminds us, I think, of the imperative of hope. We wait. The world waits. Not passively, but actively seeking the coming of the light. Seeking reasons for hope. Waiting is hard sometimes. Think of the long gestation period between conception and birth – expectant mothers know plenty about waiting!

Traditionally, Mary, the mother of Jesus sang the Magnificat when she met her cousin Elizabeth. It’s a lovely affirmation of the way things might be in the kingdom of God. Like the Beatitudes, the world as we know it is to be turned upside-down, (or maybe right-way up at last?) The culture of success and power will yield to compassion and gentleness. I’m reminded of the Sunday Times List of what’s ‘going up’ and what’s ‘going down’:

He will topple all the powerful from their thrones,

And raise up all the humble.

He feasts all the hungry with good cheer,

sends the rich away empty-handed….’

For this we wait. Maybe the Advent season helps to remind us that light will always penetrate the darkness – that’s the lovely message of a candle. That seeking the light and finding it reflected in even the most unlikely ‘other’ may be what we’re about as people of the Way…

Because we all get habituated to the fuss and bustle of Christmas, suppose -just for a moment- we were to give ourselves three gifts this year:

– the gift of wonder, some awareness of the splendour and beauty of the world around us - and time to treasure it.

– time with a baby, to realize afresh all the potential and grace found in surprising places, and the vulnerability of love.

– spot a star! Then perhaps to ask ourselves what star we follow, and why…Remember Auden’s three wise men who say:

To discover how to be human now,

Is the reason we follow the star.

Adeste fideles. Come to the manger. Look. Listen. Wait. Receive. Speak only if you can improve on silence. Celebrate the coming of the Light. And know that the promise made to our forebears is for us too…

Mary McMahon