Advent is the traditional sign that Christmas is coming – the word ‘Advent’ is derived from the Latin word adventus, literally meaning ‘coming’. It’s a 4 week period that contains the busy-ness of getting ready for Christmas, and for me a reminder that while Christmas is an important time of year, we shouldn’t allow the stress of it encroach on the rest of our year.
And maybe it’s just that I’m a little bit older, and perhaps a little more cynical, but it does seem that more and more, the start of the Christmas season is signalled to us by commercial organisations getting their message of what Christmas is about out into the world, before the church calendar signals the coming of Christmas.
To my mind, there are at least 3 commercial signs that indicate when it is socially acceptable to start getting ready for Christmas;
1. The Coca Cola truck rolls into town
2. The chaos of the Black Friday sales
3. The John Lewis advert is revealed
And sometimes, with all that’s going on around us at this time of year, it’s easy to get distracted from the real ‘reason for the season’ – that God sent His most precious gift, His son, to save us. But not in a way that anyone expected Him to.
And so it is with this in mind, that I’d like to share this short, thought-provoking remake of this year’s John Lewis advert – a chance to pause and reflect on the powerful message at the heart of the Christmas story.
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