December in Britain brings less daylight, stormy weather and uncertain health.
Travel plans, whether for holidays or joining with family and friends, are disrupted or frustrated. The seasonal edition of ‘Outnumbered’ with High Dennis (BBC1) depicts this with gritty humour.
‘Just the worst time of year for a journey’ wrote TS Eliot of the Magi searching for a new King.
The Christian season of Advent has begun in many places with an act of worship ‘From Darkness to Light’. This recognises the dilemmas of human journeys with their sorrows and joys, fears and encouragements, struggles and reliefs.
It gives time to pause and recognise that our own strength is not enough and we do not carry enough light to see our way. Yet the light that shines In the darkness is already ahead of us as we stumble on.
This perception is the difference between the optimism that our familiar certainties will see us through and the hope that trusts in a vulnerable victorious Saviour who has journeyed ahead to show us the Way.
Pause in the rush towards Christmas and as we look for the Light of Christ remember that we are work in progress, which is ‘not the perfect keeping of the commandments as some sort of human achievement, but the freedom to receive the gift of Christ being formed in us and to guard it by means of our watchfulness’. (Rowan Williams ‘Looking East in Winter’ Continuum 2021 p32).
