Advent

 The season of Lent always reminds me of my childhood, especially the years between the ages of four and ten which were spent in Headingley, Leeds. At that time I became increasingly aware of a cultural gap between my family and the families of my school friends. For them December was the time of preparation for a materialistic Christmas of getting and spending, with a few Christmas carols thrown in. What Santa would bring you was increasingly, even at that time, the question asked of children by passing adults and other children. There was none of that in my household.

In my family, as Christmas approached, past Christmases of poverty and war came increasingly to mind. My mother introduced us children to the spirit of Advent, the time of coming to midwinter and the signs of hope in the greenery of the advent wreath, the four advent candles and the story of advent told through the advent calendar. The birth of the Saviour and the traditional rights, anticipating the birth of new life in nature in approaching spring, are still celebrated across the Continent of Europe.

During those early formative years of early childhood I attended a Church of England primary school and a Methodist Sunday School. there I learned the story of the birth, death and resurrection of the Saviour, Jesus. Later in life I learned the story of the Christian Church, its teachings based on loving and giving were corrupted by the quest for power, domination and the perpetration of evil. Even later in life I became a Roman Catholic and learned great wisdom from the parish priest, Canon Patrick Delaney. He was firm in his faith. The teaching of the Church is quite clear: "love God and love thy neighbour as thyself". But, when all is said and done, God is Divine. The Church, on the other hand, is a human institution, with its weaknesses and failings.

On reflection it becomes clear that the purely materialistic culture under which we are presently condemned to live is neither divine nor human. A society based primarily upon self-interest - my pay, my house, my bank account, my clothes, food, holidays and dog come first. Charity comes as an afterthought. Even, sadly, the child becomes a personal possession.

Advent is, perhaps, a time when we may start to face up to the fact that we are in the final stages of a materialistic nightmare that looks set to engulf humanity and eliminate it from the face of the earth.

It need not be that way. But if change is to come about, it will not come from a decree from above, from the scientists, the politicians or the technical experts. It will come, and can only come, from the ordinary people everywhere. The music, poetry, hymns and stories learned in childhood and rehearsed throughout adult life remain our most precious resource. They are a resource that can endure, is highly sustainable, and can be shared by all, once basic needs are met. (To be continued)