The shopper’s Christmas
with its myriad deals,
and easy payments,
arrives with early autumn.
Santa in September – a symbol of our age,
robbing us of waiting,
of surprise, even of joy.
Yet with Advent
a different truth arrives
amidst our tinselled lives:
the gift of expectancy –
that silent longing of the soul
which is deep within us all.
It’s not the shopper’s rush,
for on this path we face within ourselves
the baggage of the years,
the memories that haunt the mind,
the fear that lurks behind the mask:
but let us travel on,
expectant, and with hope,
for there is a guiding star
tenderly leading us to outstretched hands of Love.
Peter Millar, Edinburgh, Advent 2013
