My third child, I’ll call him George, was the only one of my four to be born on his due date. Even then, he couldn’t wait! Once he went on a school trip and bought me a jar of sweets as a present. When he got off the coach, he proudly offered me the empty jar. “Sorry Mum, I got hungry!” he confessed. Never mind, the jar was useful!
So Christmas was torture for him. Of the four advent calendars on the fridge – one would have all its windows opened and reclosed so as not to spoil the surprise for the others. There was one year when I opened the large tin of Roses (other chocolates are available!) on Christmas Day, only to find that the lack of chocolates and few toffee pennies left at the bottom couldn’t just be accounted for by ‘ the settling of the contents in transit’!
When the big day came, I used to try to make the children take their time opening presents to make the anticipation and excitement last. “When they’re gone, they’re gone!” I’d say as I viewed the three piles of parcels – as inevitably, I would be too late and one already was reduced to wrappings!
In Luke’s gospel, we meet Simeon ‘a good God-fearing man who was waiting for Israel to be saved’. He must have looked around at the Romans occupying his country and wonder when it would happen. He was getting older and older yet had been promised that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Lord’s promised Messiah. All of those years of service, prayers, faithfulness and advice that happened during his long wait, wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
In these days of instant gratification : instant coffee, instant access, credit cards, internet, streaming of series hot off the press, previews and spoilers – we’re not used to waiting.
But waiting provides us with a breathing space and time to reflect. Time to understand the true value of something. When I was really young, I saw an advert in a comic for a Fireball XL5 long playing record (for my younger readers a glossary is provided for unfamiliar vocabulary!) it cost 15s/ 11d. Now that doesn’t sound much but my Dad’s weekly wage at that time was £5. My Grandad used to empty out his change at the end of the week and pop it into my money box, until eventually I had enough to send away for it. I still have it – the space travel information on it is out of date, the puppets depicted have visible strings, the voice recordings are faded and forced but I treasure it because I had to wait for it and it represents value life lessons about patience, persistence and love.
In the hustle and bustle leading to Christmas, take some time to reflect on the worth of Jesus, the long awaited Saviour of the world.
Glossary:
A record = vinyl disc, with recordings on, superseded by CDs, now replaced by streaming!
Fireball XL5 – a Gerry Anderson puppet series for children which pre-dated and introduced the ideas of moon landing
15s/11d – pre decimal currency 10s =50p , there were 12d in a shilling.