It’s hard to believe that yesterday was the first day of December. In Latin, ‘Decem’ means 10 and December was also the tenth month in the Roman calendar. But January and February were later added to take account of the winter months. It is one of seven months with the length of 31 days. December starts on the same day as September every year and ends on the same day as April as well. The main highlight of the coming month is of course Christmas.

On our Christian calendar it is a hugely special celebration. To give us a chance to anticipate and look forward to this celebration, the season of Advent was created. It’s a lovely time to reflect on the really important things in life, to reflect on our own personal stuff and to reflect on what the real meaning of Christmas might mean for us.

Advent in reality though brushes past us. In an ideal world it would be great to pause and reflect. Advent sound good and means well but often falls well short. This is mainly because we are too busy and preoccupied with the hectic build up to Christmas. This hectic pace is relentless and almost unstoppable. No wonder many arrive at Christmas exhausted.

We can waste lots of energy complaining about how commercialised Christmas has become or how we have lost the real meaning of Christmas. But all the complaining in the world is not going to change anything. What we can change though is our response to these coming weeks before Christmas.

Yes it is a busy time but Advent is also a beautiful opportunity to reclaim some ‘me time’. It is up to each of us to avoid getting sucked into the slipstream of busyness. It is up to us to create our time for quiet reflection and to create time for the really important things in life. Advent brushes past so many but it doesn’t have to. How will Advent 2019 be for you this year?