The trees are up in the stores, lights flicker from them, and all seems magical. And there’s still time until Christmas. I’m not sure how you feel about the décor starting this early. It may have something to do with the dark days of winter that start with time change and colder weather that make people yearn for things merry and bright.

The people of Israel two thousand plus years ago needed hope. Many suffered under the Roman rule. They didn’t know yet what we know now, that a Saviour would soon be born.

We can look back from our comfortable seats, but not all is pretty here either. There is still trouble in the world, still poverty, still wars. And maybe war in our hearts and minds too when angst chases out the hope we feel at other times. People in Nazareth and Bethlehem struggled through dark ages and not just one month of Advent.

Advent reminds us about that time of waiting. We may have Christmas decorations up early in our homes (not as early in ours), and the contemplative time running up to Christmas reminds us to slow down just a bit just as the world around us spins like a Tilt-a-Whirl at the amusement park. We may have extra demands on our time and often more expectations that we put on ourselves for a perfect Christmas.

Whether you bake batches of cookies, Christmas cake (is it too late?), and mincemeat tarts, while you do your shopping, or cut back on baking or shopping for budget or other reasons, take time to remember why we light the candles leading up to Christmas.

In the year 2000, a dear friend died just a few days before Christmas from a failed stem cell transplant. Christmas was Barb’s favourite time of the year, and that Christmas Eve was sad for her family, and for me as a friend. Candle lighting and the singing of Silent Night brought tears, and also a knowing that she would be in a place where there was no more pain or suffering.

Another family is without a wife, mother and grandmother. Dianne died in September when someone else chose to drink and drive, causing Dianne’s death. I’d known Dianne as a fellow school mate and friend in my first school, her brother was in my class. Then the driver of the other car, knowing what her drinking had cost.

I share this, not to deny you happiness with your family and friends, but to remember that the time of Advent for some might be likened to those dark days and decades people knew before the Christ Child arrived. For families going through tough times even now, perhaps we can offer a little cheer or encouragement, a listening ear this December between our own preparations. It won’t take away their grief or sadness, but it will let them know that others care.

And only then does Christmas come, with the birth of the Saviour.