This morning, it is my turn to lead Morning prayer in the Chapel at the University of Glasgow.  The assigned Bible reading is the start of Revelation 22 - what, to me, is the 'river of life' passage and which, for me, is always linked to the River of Life sulpture/water feature that flows along Bridge Street in Warrington.

Regular readers will know that, from time to time, I allude to events that took place in Warrington on 20th March 1993, and their significance in the "peace process" for Northern Ireland. 

Warrington is a town through which the River Mersey flows in "meander" en route to the sea.  Given a few millennia, there may well be an ox-bow lake (remember those from geography lessons?) at Thelwall.  Wide, slow and carrying with it detritus and junk, in more recent years it has been cleaned up enough to allow fish to return.  Historically, a river bringing life to this part of the north of England, in what was, in 1993 a largely unheard of industrial market town.

The deliberate choice to create a civic art project quoting Revelation 22 always struck me as significant - a text precious to Catholics and Protestants alike, and an image/metaphor that crossed any or all religious divides.  A river carrying life through the city (or town in this case) and the leaves of the trees being for "the healing of the nations".  As part of the installation, twelve plaques are embossed with different leaves, and the names of different schools and communities.  Well-trodden, worn down and now, sadly due to choices for development, in a largely neglected street, the symbolism represents a conscious, deliberate and defiant decision to choose life, to choose hope.

And, to me, these are important Advent themes.  Hope is a choice, an action, a process... Life, too, is more than mere existence, it requires that we choose to be alive.

In a little over an hour, I will lead a congregation of maybe half a dozen in singing 'for the healing of the nations' and will reflect, off the cuff, and briefly, on the words from Revelation 22.  One much-loved Advent carol refers to Emmanuel as 'the desire of nations' - maybe today in pausing to recall nations in need of healing, this hope is also expressed.

Among the dates I choose to remember each year, is World AIDS Day.  I don't know anyone directly affected by HIV/AIDS and to my knowledge never have done, but for some reason, since its existence and - at the time growing - prevalence became well publicised in the 1980s it has seemed to me important to raise, and maintain, awareness, to care for those affected and to fund research into treatment.

One of the early campaigns had the slogan "don't die of ignorance" and advocated safer sex, avoidance of needle sharing etc., etc.  Nowadays we know that one of the main transmission routes in sub-Saharan Africa is via breast milk, and that myths abound in come cultures that sex with a virgin will cure it.  Most shocking, for me, a few years back, was a documentary following young, British men who were actively seeking to become infected with the virus viewing it as 'the gift'.  Scary stuff.

So why this as the first day of my Advent Calendar?

Mostly, because I think it is important in its own right.

But perhaps it is in the terrifying and saddening story of the young men wanting to receive "the gift" that I am reminded of the very natural human quest for meaning and significance.  When I began my first pastorate, moving in to the manse between Christmas and New Year, the poster on the 'wayside pulpit' announced "The Gift is Given" along with a clip-art manger.  Christians often use the language of "the gift" to refer to the birth of Jesus, and here is a story that for two millennia has helped countless people in their own quest for meaning and signficance.

I wonder how many people begin their countdown to Christmas seeking some elusive 'gift' that will bring them joy and fulfiment?  The young men seeing HIV/AIDS as "the gift" are certainly extreme, but the inner yearning that drives them is, I think, common to all people.

Today I pause to remember those affected by HIV/AIDS, I will make a small financial gift to an AIDS charity, and I will reflect on the nature of gifts and giving, thankful that, as the fourth gospel expresses it "God so loved the world that he gave..."

Usually, during Advent, I have made a conscious effort to post something daily.  This year, when Advent is the longest it can be, starting on 27th November, I have been so busy chasing my tail that I have given no thought to what, if anything I might make of Advent.  So, on the basis that mass-produced Advent calendars begin on 1st December, and today is that day, I'll pull myself together and do something to 'count down' to Christmas.  I should warn you, there will be no chocolates to eat, and the topics are liekly to be anything but saccharine!

I snapped this photo earlier in the year, during a visit to this fiesty, well-loved, 102 year old.  It captures something of her indomitable spirit, humour, wit and wisdom.

Tomorrow we will say our last farewells to her, commend her to the safe-keeping of the God in whom she trusted unwaveringly, and celebrate a long life, well-lived.

Almost every Baptist minister in the UK, and many in the world, will know the name R E O White, minister and theologian; fewer had the privilege to know the woman who worked alongside him, bore his children and loved him as a life-partner.

An era ends - someone born just as World War I began, who lived through so much challenge and change, yet held fast to her faith in Christ without ever seeming to grow narrow or stuck-in-the-mud - and it is pure privilege to be part of that moment.

So we did it!  Yesterday we held the final services in our beloved tatty building and moved out to spend some time 'camping' in a hotel just up the road.

On Saturday evening, a group of us walked round the whole building (apart from the hard hat area) recalling how each space had been employed for mission or ministry, offering a short prayer and symbolically switching off lights as we went, until we left the building in darkness.

Yesterday's morning service was a pack out, with nigh on a hundred folk, including a couple of dozen guests/visitors, sharing in an interactive and innovative service that had been created and delivered by a small team of gifted folk.  We sang hymns and songs that are meaningful for us, some expressing faith, others our aspirations.  We shared memories in different parts of the building, guided by members of our Sunday School and/or we watched a compilation of wedding videos stretching back several decades.  We recorded memories of the past and hopes for the future.  We reflected on scripture - the Hebrews 11 Cloud of Witnesses who urge us on, and the Matthew 28 Christ who is always present with those who God sends out for the work of mission.  We packed up a box with the Bible, cross, chalice and  cloths from the table.  We left the building singing, locked the door, shared a final prayer and walked, together, to the hotel for a 'welcome lunch'.

In the evening, thirty people, from at least five churches, sat in a ring and shared a service of reflection and bread-breaking.  With Nicodemus, the intelligent, questioning man who sought out Jesus by night, with Jacob who wrestled with God all night at Peniel (being left with a limp for his pains), with the young people urged to seek out the counsel of Sophia, spirit wisdom, and the Hebrew church encouraged by Paul to keep on keeping on, we reflected on how this service came about, what it attempts and why it is important, ecumencially, theologically, spiritually.  We recorded more memories.  We broke bread and drank "wine".  We sang of the God who has 'more light and truth to break forth from the Word' and we 'marched in the light of God' to share refreshments at the church who will pick up our 'hosting' role in alternate months.

A long day (or weekend) and an important one.  Very grateful to A, A, H and P who worked on creating the morning service, and to those others who, largely unobserved even by me, worked behind to scenes to bring it all together.

Advent - Adventure... Coming - Becoming... Transition and Continuity...

From the old we travel to the new, and the eternal God travels with us.