Advent.
Season when
Dual citizenship
Holds us in
Awkward tension.
The world, intent on
Spending Christmas,
Eats and drinks its way to
Oblivion after dinner.
The Kingdom sounds
Insistent warning:Repent, be ready,
Keep awake,
He comes.
Like some great fugue
The themes entwine:
The Christmas carols,
Demanding our attention
In shops and pubs,
Bore their insistent way
Through noise of traffic;
Underneath, almost unheard,
The steady solemn theme of
Advent.
With growing complexity,
Clashing, blending,
Rivals for our attention,
Themes mingle and separate,
Pulling us with increasing
Urgency,
Until in final resolution,
The end attained,
Harmony rests in aweful
Stillness, and
The child is born.
He comes,
Both Child and Judge.
And will he find us
Watching?
Ann Lewin
Reflection
We are sometimes happy to let the meaning and waiting that Advent is about to slide as the pace of life increases as we move towards Christmas. Perhaps some of this is because the traditional advent imagery of the end of the world and the judgement of Christ can be disturbing and difficult to understand. We need to persevere in finding a way to understand what this end of times means to you and me.
Advent teaches us that to find Jesus is not just to find a baby in a manger, but to also find the one who, for all his love and mercy, is also judge.
Prayer
Dear Lord
Help us to watch and wait
To learn the meaning of this season,
to wait for your coming again
To meet you ready,
prepared to face your love,
your mercy and your judgement.
Amen
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