From the Vicar - Advent Sunday 2013
“Be Prepared”, the old Scout motto reminds
us!
However, preparation
for Christmas these days often can mean baking, shopping, cleaning, decorating,
card writing and so many other things which seem to take up most of our time
and, if we’re not careful, we can simply end up mentally, physically and
spiritually exhausted.
Shop until you drop,
with the 25th December as our deadline, often means that whilst we
are ready for Christmas Day, it can be rather an anti climax when it is over.
It seems that whilst
we all want to enjoy the holiday, and some time together, we have allowed two
of the major issues of our times to drive the agenda - materialism and
consumerism, and so rob us of these four short weeks of Advent which can be and
should be, true preparation for the birth at Bethlehem and the opportunity for
us to prepare our hearts for a personal and shared encounter with Jesus Christ.
My hope and prayer
is that this Advent will be more prayerful, more spiritual – and dare I say it
– more Christian.
Michael
