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Dear Friends, By the time you read this we will be into Advent - the time of year when we wait. Wait with baited breath for the miracle of Christmas and the arrival of the Christ child. At least that’s how it should be. Advent for most of us is a time of panic and rushing around. For those who have no one to rush around for, it can be a time of sorrow and regret. This point was made all the stronger to me as I have just returned from watching a rehearsal for our Christmas musical. It has Noel on a search for what Christmas is all about. It’s all coming together, by the fact that, through no fault of their own, all the cast cannot be assembled at any one rehearsal. People’s lives today are just so very busy. Our culture seems to encourage us all to wear ourselves out. We are a people in a hurry, everything must happen ‘now’. I was reading just the other day, don’t ask me where, I was obviously skimming through something in a hurry! Anyway, the story that caught my attention was about the building of an abbey in northern France. Apparently two oak pillars were needed, shaped in a certain way to form an arch. Trees were, therefore, planted and trained in the right shape. When tall enough they were cut down and then treated for seven years in a substance that would prevent them rotting. Can you imagine that nowadays? ‘Aye, I can do that building job for you, it’ll maybe take a wee while though’. What’s that? Six weeks? No, I was thinking more of sixty years!’ I know you’re going to say it sometimes feels like that when you want something done, but we don’t seem to take a long term view on anything nowadays. Short term fixes, quick solutions, instant profits - and a fine mess we’re getting the planet into. Christmas is not about quick fixes and easy, make-do solutions. God sees the beginning from the end. The kingdom of God continues to be built - slowly and steadily, in spite of all the evil that comes against it. Love has the victory. The birth of Jesus brings hope and peace. No matter how rushed and harassed we are, Jesus offers us patience and peace deep within. Someone once said to me, ‘when God made time he made plenty of it.’ It doesn’t always feel that way but I know what she meant. May you find time this Advent and Christmas to wait on the Lord and find blessing in so doing. Yours, Janice |