Traveling can be bit of an ordeal. Di and I are on sabbatical, having a break from Scargill, and today we were hoping and expecting to fly to Australia only to find we had got to the airport a day early. Oh yes! I’m obviously not that good with dates…And not only being a day early, I thought I had lost my wallet only to find that I had left it in my daughter’s car back in Milton Keynes. It had all the usual cards which, without, would have made traveling very difficult. All a bit stressful, particularly to my long suffering wife.

What I have achieved today is to be an embarrassment to my daughter and caused a lot of laughter and head shaking. But no harm done, we will try again tomorrow with tickets checked and wallet safe.

Traveling though can be exhausting even straightforward trips. The bible are full of journeys many that are very hazardous.The Israelites in the Old Testament journeyed for forty years in the wilderness, full of trails and difficulties, learning huge life lessons on the way. In the New Testament we read of the the holy family’s trip to Bethlehem, (Mary on a donkey = virgin on the ridiculous. You can thank Adrian Plass for that!). A couple of years later fleeing for their lives as refugees to Egypt, an enforced journey. Jesus identifies with refugees and we keep in our prayers all who find themselves along way from home. Their plight makes my experiences insignificant and yes, ridiculous.

Yet the “inward” journey is also never straightforward, far from it. Christians, often speak of their walk with God, or their desire to discover God, with phrases such as a desert experience or walking through a valley, or mountain top experience. The inward journey for the majority of us is exhausting and hazardous. St Augustine wrote in one of his prayers, “our hearts are restless until they rest in you”. Very true. This is the journey which will bring life, love and hope, and like the younger son in his parable, we stumble along in the hope of coming home to the unconditional love and welcome of our Heavenly Father. The road can seem long and tough but let us not be discouraged, as Jesus promises to journey with us, speaking to us, and that “if we listen carefully we discover we are already home while on the way” (Henri Nouwen).

Will I make it to Australia, will I journey more into the love of God? Both journeys are keenly on my agenda – I’ll let you know.

Henri Nouwen says, “Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and to let him (God) – whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend – be our companion.”

Di and I wish you peace, joy and love this Christmas time!

Those of us who have or have had children will know that long journeys can be challenging and exhausting. This is especially true when we have to endure “Are we nearly there yet?” after only having travelled a couple of miles of a long journey. If there was a similar phrase in New Testament times I’m sure the early church would have been directing it at God. They had been waiting, praying, desiring The Lord’s return. What was going on? Why was He taking so long? There have been many times in history when Christians must have felt that surely this was the time, surely the Lord was returning and yet we are still waiting. The cry ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ is frustrated and helpless but the waiting Jesus speaks of in Luke 21 is a watchful, expectant, waiting. There is something active about the waiting we are being called into. The Message translation puts it succinctly, – “be on your guard, don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties, and drinking, and shopping”

Hmm – does that not sound like many people’s Advent leading up to Christmas?!

We are not good at waiting. My experience of waiting is that it’s tiring. Queuing for instance is frustrating and boring. I wonder how many times I have seen a queue and have decided just not to bother. And of course waiting can cause anger. Living in community we sometimes experience “Toast rage” during the breakfast buffet.

We live in a culture where waiting is not encouraged or fostered – John Sentamu, Archbishop of York wrote, “We are encouraged to take the waiting out of wanting, cut to the chase and get what we want right away, as though there is nothing worth waiting for.”

This impatient waiting is not the patient waiting that Jesus talks about. Henri Nouwen writes, “The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full belief that something hidden will manifest itself to us. Impatient people are always expecting the real thing to happen somewhere else and therefore want to go elsewhere. The moment is empty. But patient people dare to stay where they are. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Waiting, then, is not passive. It involves nurturing the moment, as a mother nurtures the child that is growing in her womb” (The Path of Waiting)

Psalm 27 puts it nicely,
“I am still confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for The Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

The Advent season of anticipating Christmas is an ideal time to foster the spiritual discipline of waiting. A waiting that is not passive, but expectant, dynamic and active, living in and making the most of the present moment. Not restlessly dashing after something which likely isn’t there, but being attentive to the subtle possibilities of the here and now. This discipline is vital in our walk with Jesus throughout our lives.

Watch this space for more posts and to find out more information about events taking place at Scargill click here to check out the programme.