‘Coming, ready or not!’ This, or some variation of it, has been shouted by children through the years as they reach the end of their countdown and rush to find their playmates in Hide and Seek. Ready or not, Christmas is coming, and you can’t hide from it for long – the decorations, cards, chocolates and mince pies are already on sale, and soon every public space will be wreathed with tinsel, sparkling with lights and ringing with the sound of carols old and new.
Advent calendars at the ready, children will be counting down the days to the main event one chocolate at a time. The days gallop away, caught up in the whirlwind of buying, wrapping, labelling, posting, giving, singing and eating – always eating. Fun though those things can be we can lose sight of what this ‘festive season’ is really about – and that is where Stewardship would like to help.
In the four weeks before Christmas, we will be ‘unwrapping’ the four traditional gifts of Advent –hope, peace, joy and love. We have a series of reflections on these gifts with a fresh take on the lives of some of the familiar characters of the nativity story: Zechariah’s steadfast hope; joy from Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth; Joseph’s sacrificial love; and peace – believe it or not – from Herod. We are going to unwrap each gift with reflections, films, imagery and stories and we hope you will get involved too.
Follow Stewardship on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to join the journey.
We hope that you will be as encouraged as we have been by these examples of giving, and inspired to pass on those four gifts to those you spend time with this December.
And if you’re more the impatient type, itching for Christmas Day to finally arrive, we give you one more gift – in a culture that demands and expects instant gratification, that promises that all your needs will be met as soon as you experience them, that says it’s your human right to have it all and have it now, we give you the gift of waiting.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)
He’s coming, ready or not!
UPDATE: You can also find each reflection and video by checking back to the Stewardship blog every Friday. www.stewardship.org.uk/blog
Catherine Durant
Catherine wrote and edited for Stewardship for 8 years. Before that, she worked in marketing for a theatre, spent time in mission focused on anti-trafficking in Asia and studied History of Art and English Literature at university.
Her interests are in anything arty – whether it’s visiting galleries, taking photos, going to concerts, or challenging herself to pick up a pencil and draw. She loves nothing more than an in-depth conversation with a friend, especially if there’s a cheese board involved.
She is passionate about the transformative power of the Bible and enjoys helping people dig into God’s Word. Catherine also cares deeply about issues of inequality and justice, particularly around the mistreatment of women.
