Advent? Really?

At Church we have been talking about goals. Goal setting can be important but it can also be quite disorienting - particularly when we are trying to discern God's will in the midst of things.

I was thinking yesterday that when we face any sort of change - especially the sort of change or development which we plan - we put ourselves into a sort of Advent period. This may seem to be an odd thought in August but some of the key themes of Advent are watching, waiting and journeying and this is what we are doing in any period of discernment.

There is an element to Holy Journey that is shot through with human emotion and not always positive. Any disorientation tends to cause us some discomfort (and disorientation is a necessary part of reorientation - in an honest search there have to be some moments of feeling "turned around" and perhaps a little lost).

Remember TS Eliot's Wise Men - who I refer to way to often - who in their Advent - in their coming to Christ - deal with grumpy camels and cold weather and homesickness? Despite this though, they press on to visit the most remarkable place they will ever be called to.

This is what keeps us going through the sometimes gloomy paths, that God has something remarkable for us. In our coming to Christ we have to dare to step into the unfamiliar and hold ourselves carefully as we venture into the sometimes rough roads of coming towards - Advent.