Advent

Today is the beginning of Advent. Yesterday we put up the indoor Christmas tree at St John's, and at this morning’s service we lit the first candle on the church's Advent ring.

The next few weeks will see a lot of commercial chaos.  I was in London on Tuesday and the west end was certainly busy with shoppers - no sign there of pre-election/Brexit jitters.  I heard someone this week describe the run-up to Christmas as the 'tinsel tunnel' - this phrase is new to me but I realise he was referring to the pressurising mayhem of getting psyched up ready for the festival.

But 'Advent' is about so much more than commercial pressure and calendars with a daily chocolate as we count down to Christmas.  The very word comes from the Latin words meaning 'come to' and it expresses the longing for God to do something, coming to the world and putting to rights so much that is a mess.

That's what Christmas is about - God coming to the world in the person of Jesus, and I'll unpack that some more in my blogs as we get nearer to Christmas.  For now, let me just ask: what is it that you are longing for, and what do you wish God would put to rights?  Just as Jesus came into the world amid the mess and smell of animals, He comes into our personal circumstances, however messed-up they may be, if we'll just invite him.