As we come towards the end of 2016, it will be difficult to avoid the TV programmes, articles and social media posts about what an upsetting year it has been. It has been a difficult year – a swathe of celebrity deaths, deeply divided societies in the US and the UK and the ongoing carnage in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
There's no doubt that it's been a tricky year for many of us. It hasn't all been bad, though – just ask any fan of the Chicago Cubs. The baseball team had gone way beyond a joke to become a byword for failure and disappointment, having not won the World Series in living memory. This year, all that changed and the Cubs were triumphant.
2016 also saw the improbable – some thought nigh-on impossible – rise of Leicester City to the pinnacle of the English football pyramid. One of the biggest ever surprises in top level sport, Leicester had never won the top division of English football in 132 years (putting even the Cubs' 108 wait to win another World Series in the shade).
Fans who had waited their whole lives to see their team reach the pinnacle of performance were left rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Did this really happen? We've been waiting so long it barely seems real...
These unlikely achievements not only make the grim news agenda of 2016 a bit more palatable. They also speak of something much deeper - the need to never give up hope and to wait with anticipation and with patience.
Patience is a pretty unfashionable word in contemporary culture. When the phone in my pocket has far more computing power than the desktop I was using only 15 years ago, it's easy to become complacent about the change we've witnessed in recent times.
Those of us who are comfortably off in the rich West rarely have to wait for much these days. We use online megastores which promise us next day delivery on any product (while we don't even stop to think how that is even possible without the exploitation of workers). We can consume food out of season, we have apps to tell us exactly when our next public transport will arrive, we even enjoy films, music and TV at the touch of a button.
None of this is bad in and of itself. My smartphone makes my life better in many ways. Yet there is a risk that we lose the art of waiting patiently – something which this season of Advent is all about.
One of this Sunday's readings in from the Book of James. As usual with the epistle, it's challenging stuff. "Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains." Here, the writer is telling us something important. We're supposed to be patient like the farmer who has a precious crop. In the Middle East where rain is scarce, a farmer would be eagerly awaiting the rain, keen for the clouds to open and release the life giving force of the water.
The text goes on, "You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near."
Patience is a virtue, the old phrase goes. If that is correct, then we need to cultivate it – it doesn't just come as a gift. Aristotle thought that virtue was the route to happiness – through practice. In other words, rather than just passively waiting (in this case, for Christmas, but in general, for anything good to happen) we must be actively patient – like the farmer willing the clouds to open and the rain to fall.
Advent encourages us to watch and wait for Jesus' birth. In Advent carols, we look with hope and expectation towards the birth of the Messiah. When we sing O Come O Come Emmanuel, we yearn for the darkness of the world to be fully banished by God. "O come Thou Dayspring come and cheer, Our spirits by Thine advent here, Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death's dark shadows put to flight..."
The readings from the Bible which are appointed for this season help us to wait patiently, too. We read the words of the prophets, predicting the birth of the messiah; we hear the words of John the Baptist calling the people to look towards Jesus. These all help us to cultivate active waiting, eager anticipation
Patience isn't the most obvious word associated with the festive season, but it may well be one of the most appropriate. Have a blessed Advent and a joyful Christmas... When it arrives!
