So much to do! So little time!

Advent begins this Sunday and for many people, the task of celebrating Christmas has already begun. Presents have already been bought, cards sent, preparations for menus made and travel plans initiated. Yet into this mix, there are Carol celebrations to attend, end of year parties, Nativity plays and jostling to find a car park near the shops.  It can be easy to see how Christmas as well as being one of joy can also become one of tension and stress. People can build up expectations within themselves and of others of what the celebration will be like. People at there most open and vulnerable especially if alcohol and bonhomie are added to the mix. This may be why the Gospel warns about losing focus and seeing this a time of drunkenness and debauchery. Now with more breath test units around at least people seek to find a plan B rather than chance a ride in a blue light taxi.

Yet in the midst of these preparations, we need to find how we also prepare our hearts for this season. It is so easy to have everything crammed with activities that we miss the reason that we are called to celebrate. This is not just about the fact that Jesus is born in Bethlehem but the fact that God takes a profound interest in our lives with so much love that he becomes at one with us. He shares our joys and sadnesses, our successes and our failures, our apathy and our excitement. Jesus becomes one with us so that we can become one with Him. He wants us to discover our true worth which cannot be valued in dollars and cents. He sees that we have eternal value. The call is to find the place where we can at least there is room for him to enter. If every hour is used up if we do not have an anticipation for him to find that empty space that longs for a life which is everlasting then when all the tinsel and glitter is gone we may wonder what has happened and start planning for the next year.

So what to do. I think the one thing that we can do which can make a profound difference to others is to have an active concern for each person we meet as though they were the Christ child. This can be looking for opportunities to help people carry the load, prepare the way and open our hearts. To pray for the person who takes the car spot we were hoping for, to pray for the mother who is struggling with young children, to visit a person we know who will not have family around for Christmas, to pray for those who are homeless and without the shelter of family and friends. The Advent Calendar might be considered in reverse rather than filling it with things we don't need mark off an act of kindness that brings us closer to Christ and each other. Allow yourself to be surprised by generosity and encouraged to give thanks. Discover the way also that you are gifted by the kindness of strangers who make way for you and be willing to receive them with gratitude and peace.