Children aren’t very good at waiting or being patient. “Are we there yet?” is the well-known question that emanates incessantly from the back seats of cars carrying families going on holiday. Or going anywhere, no matter how long or short the trip. By the time one is an adult, hopefully, there has been some progress with living out the concepts of delayed gratification, impulse control and patience.

Advent is one of the two seasons in the Church’s year (the other being Lent) where our ability to wait well is put to the test. Of course, our waiting does not happen in a vacuum: it happens as we scurry about buying Christmas presents, writing Christmas cards, attending Christmas events and stocking up on and making Christmas food. The focus is all on Christmas. There’s not really much awareness of what Advent is and what it means.

Like Lent, Advent is a time when we are invited to pause, to become aware of what we believe about the baby that is to be born, who is called the Light of the World, the Prince of Peace, the Word who is God. It is a time to ask ourselves, who is this who is being born and what has he to do with me?

Advent is also the time for pondering who that baby became, who He is now and what He will be in the future. This aspect of Advent looks ahead to what is called the Second Coming, the time when Christ will return, not as a tiny helpless baby, nor as a man, suffering on a cross, but as the eternal Christ in all His glory.

Do we believe that our lives are going somewhere? If so, where? What is the overall trajectory of humanity and our world? The Christian faith says that we are heading for ultimate union with God, in a state where there is no sorrowing and suffering, no more crying and weeping. With current headlines, it is easy to lose sight of the direction that the Bible tells us we are headed. We, like Christ, are headed for glory, for peace, for joy – for life! The Bible also tells us something else: because of the Resurrection, we can begin to live into that kind of life now: we do not have to wait until after we die or when the Lord returns. It is a matter of accepting and opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit. It is a matter of faith.

This Advent, I pray that you will be able to find time to pause, to reflect on what you believe, to detach, at least internally, from some of the hustle and bustle around you and to know yourself to be at peace, with God and with yourself, and, as far as it is possible, with the people in your life.

The joy and celebrations of Christmas will be with us soon enough: how can we best use this time of to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Christ child?

The Revd Christina Rees