Advent Reflection

Today was the first Sunday in Advent and the first candle was lit. It marks the start of the Christian Church's year.
  I found myself thinking of the opening lines of one of my most loved Christmas Poems - TS Eliot's ' Journey of the Magi'.

"A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.'


For many in the Middle East these words ring as true now as they would have done then. Irrelevant of belief system or faith. And not just there......here too there are so many children and adults for whom Christmas is a worrying and stressful time , lacking in money to make dreams come true or people who care about them to be with. 
This seems a good time to try and do those good things we promise ourselves all year we will do. 
So several items purchased for our local food bank today and we'll try to keep it up 1 a day for December. Hopefully that will set the habit for 2017 and I'll actually remember and not be quite so wrapped up in my own life.