FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
‘Waiting is learning’
The bleak mid-winter heralds the arrival of a new
Church Year. As we light the first purple candle
on the Advent wreath we embark once again
on a journey that will lead us to the manger at
Bethlehem. At Christmas we will celebrate God’s
gift to the world. During Advent we look forward to
that gift. It’s a season for waiting and reflecting. Our
world is full of waiting from the rising of the sun to
its’ setting; waiting for that phone call, waiting for
the doctor, waiting in traffic, waiting for the plane.
‘Waiting is learning’, according to the late Dutch
theologian Henri Nouwen, ‘the longer we wait
the more we learn about Him for whom we are
waiting’. May we learn in our waiting, and when we
stand before the manger on Christmas morning may
we be surprised yet again, to discover that He is the
One who has been waiting for us all along.
