Advent marks the beginning of the church year. We begin again - by waiting for and anticipating the coming of the Light. It is not Christmas yet, but we long for the outpouring of God’s love on Christmas day. We yearn for the coming (advent) of the Promised One. We remember his coming in history, and we wait, watchful and alert for the signs of his coming “into the dark places of world and our lives” (Ruth Haley Barton).

This year, in some of our advent services, we will be spending some time pondering the prologue of John’s Gospel (John 1:1-18). It is an amazing, lyrical piece of writing in which John gathers most of the building blocks of the gospel. Taking us back to the beginning, he invites us to bow in reverent wonder before the holy mystery of the incarnation. You might like to prepare by reading this section, or parts of it, each day…

One of the questions we might ask ourselves at the beginning of advent is how the things we choose to do and the traditions we keep will help us to wait for Christ and to be prepared for his coming in our time?