Hasten Slowly – Church Warden, Todd Harm
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom… Matthew 7:21
The school year has almost finished … Bing Crosby’s mellifluous voice is reverberating throughout retail centres across the GC … dozens of Santa’s Workshop ‘franchises’ have sprung up in food courts everywhere … and everything is ramping up in expectation of Christmas Day!
As exhilarating as all of this is … I can’t help but feel that the pace of modern society is obscuring the whole point of Advent in a way that is profoundly concerning. Advent is for waiting, for preparing … for making and taking the time to savour the “reason for the season” … to “hasten slowly” (festina lente in Latin).
If you’re reading this, then I’m already “preaching to the choir”. Modern Christians appreciate that Jesus invited us to enter the Kingdom of God with him here and now by authentically opening one’s heart to his teachings. Yes, there is also a promise of life everlasting when we each shuffle off this mortal coil at some point in the future, but Jesus’s birth over two thousand years ago saw God’s Kingdom manifest right then and there … as it is here and now … if we but choose to pause, listen carefully and act.
Thankfully, some of the actions associated with a secular Christmas very much align with the point of Advent – when we give gifts, wish goodwill to our neighbours, take a moment to step away from work and instead make family and friends our priority – so all is not lost. However, if Jesus’ example is to be followed but one day out of three hundred and sixty-five …? Well, you take my point.
My prayer for our beautiful church communities this Christmas … indeed my prayer for the whole of the world this Christmas … is that we hasten slowly towards December 25 … that we take more than a fleeting moment to ruminate on the profound wisdom and worth of Christ’s teachings … and, as a result, we are all inspired to love our neighbours each and every day of Advent … and beyond.
Todd Harm