Another Advent
We're in that season again, counting down to Christmas. Our high streets are decked with twinkly lights, the Black Friday sales have attracted as much revenue as possible, and Nativity play rehearsals are in full swing. I'm looking forward to Christmas—largely because I plan to take some much-needed time off from study and work, and I also won't have to make the big dinner! In the meantime, though, there's all sorts to do in preparation. Advent means 'coming' or 'arrival'. Christians mark this time of year as a period of reflection on Jesus' coming to earth. Sermons in this season tend to focus on various events and characters from the Gospel accounts of Jesus' birth (in Matthew and Luke in the Bible). We can get quite familiar with the idea of angel visitations and the motley crew that turned up to see Jesus, but it's all really rather astonishing. For starters, his mother was a young virgin, who awaited the advent of the promis...
