We are not good at waiting. We want to move on, go to the next place and do the next job. Dr. Seuss in his book called “Oh the Places You’ll Go”, talks about a place called ‘the waiting place’. He describes it as a useless place where we all have to go; “Waiting for a train or a bus to come or a plane to go or the post to come or the rain to come. We wait around for a Yes or No. Everyone is just waiting.”



But waiting doesn’t always have to be seen negatively. Waiting can also be a blessing and something good and positive. The season of Advent is all about waiting. It gives us time to prepare while we wait for Christmas. It is a time to pause and reflect.



It is also a time to make our waiting more productive. We can reach out and help others. We can support charities like St Vincent De Paul. We can be mindful of a bereaved person or someone we know who is struggling. It is not about having all the answers or having the right words. A much more important gift to that person is our presence and that we care enough to say hello and check in with them. It is often the little things that make the biggest difference.

As we wait during Advent we can also keep our expectations realistic and grounded. If we have high expectations and are hoping for a perfect Christmas, then we are setting ourselves up for a big disappointment. It rarely happens that everything goes completely right. The story of Christmas and the birth of Jesus is a story that is far from perfect.



In an ideal world Jesus would have been born in a nice sheltered warm and cosy room. It would have been safe and secure. But that wasn’t to be. An obscure, humble and simple stable was the next best thing. The stable holds all our stories. We know that life is far from perfect and so the stable holds our story and everything that is going on for us. Our sense is that God also understands our story, our complexities and everything that is going on for us. God journeys with us each day as we are.



This is what Christmas is all about. It is worth waiting for. Advent makes sure that we give ourselves every chance to wait as best we can.