In a couple of hours I will be hosting a Christmas dinner for some of the students who are part of our community at the Gathering Place.

I have spent most of my afternoon preparing food - and worrying in case there is anything nasty lurking in any of the meat and how long must I cook it for to be totally sure any bugs are dead...  And wondering if the vegans will be OK with what I've chosen for them and what the overseas students will make of Brussels sprouts or Christmas pudding or mince pies (vegan, gluten free, soy free...) and so on, and so forth...

It has been fun, and I am looking forward to the evening (and grateful, so grateful, for the dishwasher!)

It has been a hectic day, a hectic week, and its far from through yet, and so it does me good to stop, if just for a few moments, and allow the fun and the festivity, the anticipation and the merriment to seep into my being, just a little bit more.

For sure, Advent is a time of preparing.  For sure this blog post has an important message.  But there has to be time for festivity too, doesn't there?

We will have fun, the students and I, and we will dine royally... and that somehow seems good.

Generous God,

There are, it seems, two risks with Advent:

That we fail to notice it at all and fill our time with decadent frivolity,

Or that we are zealously penitent to the exclusion of enjoyment.

Help us find the middle course

That enjoys feasting with family and friends

Whilst fasting from negativity and selfishness

Amen