An Advent poem from John Bell
I have come across John Bell many times since the early 1990s. The person and work of this longtime member of the Iona Community in Scotland, a teacher, theologian, musician, poet, activist, and ecumenical leader has influenced my own ministry in so many ways as both a priest and musician. In collaboration with the community’s Wild Goose Worship group his hand and craft is all over the communities liturgies and publications.
Speaking of Advent John told a group gathered at the Sorrento Centre that Advent is a season with its own message and merits; specifically that there is to be no whiff of Christmas until at the very least, Christmas Eve. Well I have fought this chronological battle so many times over the years and have lost every time. In my experience folks just want to rush towards the Bethlehem cradle which is very sad. Advent has its own voice, at times challenging and at others times comforting. I have tried to stress these elements in my Advent Reflections available here.
With thanks to Logan McMenamie, I include below an Advent poem by John Bell.
You keep us waiting.
You, the God of all time,
want us to wait for the right time
in which to discover who we are,
where we are to go,
who will be with us, and what we must do.
So thank you… for the waiting time.
You keep us looking.
You, the God of all space,
want us to look in the right and wrong places
for signs of hope,
for people who are hopeless,
for visions of a better world which will appear
among the disappointments of the world we know.
So thank you… for the looking time.
You keep us loving.
You, the God whose name is love,
want us to be like you-
to love the loveless and the unlovely and the unlovable;
to love without jealousy or design or threat;
and, most difficult of all,
to love ourselves.
So thank you… for the loving time.
And in all this,
you keep us.
Through hard questions with no easy answers;
through failing where we hoped to succeed
and making an impact when we felt we were useless;
through the patience and the dreams and the love of others;
and through Jesus Christ and the Spirit,
you keep us.
So thank you… for the keeping time,
and for now,
and for ever,
Amen.
– John Bell (Iona Community)
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 
So profound.
Personally, I still don’t understand the move from purple to blue. Is it too demanding of us to dutifully observe Advent as we do Lent–a Season of introspection, penance, waiting, prayer, and, in olden times, fasting? The readings each Sunday reflect that, surely. We have these readings from the Prophets where things aren’t great and what’s on the horizon is far from immanent. The buildup to the great events of God’s acting demand preparation, or else it’s all just one big fat celebration extending so thinly over twelve months that you’d think we should all just be eating cake and wondering where the ice cream is.
The ‘bleak midwinter’ is bleak. The trees are bare. It’s damn dark out. We shovel; we could easily die if left out there. And in European tradition, the fasting, the introspection end at midnight on the darkest night of all. A bonfire in the churchyard explodes the gloom, from which everyone’s candles are lit, processed into the darkened sanctuary, where the Priest celebrates the unexpected, the miraculous, when angels suddenly filled the night sky–and all we waited and longed for, happened–happened like yeast in bread, like planted mustard seeds….like the birth of a child in an innkeeper’s barn.
I appreciate this post so much. It speaks to me, and flies in the face of overhead speakers pumping out ‘It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year’.
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The way I was brought up, we didn’t even mention “advent” … just jumped right into “Christmas” at the beginning of December. After many years, I discovered advent in Sunday services … then that it could carry through each week … but this is the first time I have thought of saving Christmas until Christmas eve, after climbing toward it step by step through advent. I will be keeping this in mind as I read your daily advent reflections this advent time! (So … do you wait to decorate, sing Christmas carols, and such, until Christmas eve? Or?)
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Much to say here. Typically at home we try to delay tree decorations until Advent 3 or later. We usually leave up until Epiphany (Jan 6) or later. At church I would always struggle to avoid any kind of Christmas Carol service until Advent 3 at least. In the end it often depends on who will be around chorally by Advent 4 and Christmas Eve. In preaching I used to do a special early morning (BCP) service on Advent 4 where I would include Mary themes and a bit of Christmas poetry.
This year our carol service lands well on Advent 4 and enough folks are around for it to work on that Sunday. Lots of music.
Evangelical churches have never embraced Advent in a substantial. Relating to the popular culture as they do, Sant’s on board from Dec 1 onward. You may wish to see my friend, Lance’s response to the John Bell blog. He has it right. We have so much trouble with waiting; penitence is out the window, problematically. Advent waiting is in fact a culturally resistant statement and expression of faith and trust.
K
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Thank you Ken. Shirley
On Thu, Dec 5, 2024, 2:02 p.m. Take Note – Reflections on life, music,
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