Making time

Life is always busy, but at this time of year in particular, there doesn't seem to be enough time to do everything, let alone enough time to stop and think.

I bought myself an Advent candle this year, partly because I love candles, partly because it is less calorific than a chocolate Advent calendar (and I shall get plenty more calories than I need from other sources this season) and partly because I dislike the commercialized advent calendars that most shops seem to sell these days (some places even just marketed as 'countdown calenders') that are basically an advertisement for whichever brand of chocolate is behind the doors.

The first day I lit it, I put on a Christmas CD and found myself sitting there letting the music wash over me from the first note of 'O Come O Come Emmanuel' to the end of the CD. (Okay, I'll admit that wasn't the first music I put on, but Wham's Last Christmas didn't quite have the same effect, so I opted for the CD after that!) So now each day, I am lighting the candle, sometimes with music, sometimes without, and using that time sit and be still, to pause whatever I've been doing (although my hands may be occupied, knitting or making cards if no brain-input is required as I find that helps me sit still and not jump up to do things), and to contemplate and pray. Not to think about the 253 things I want to get done in the next couple of days, or the person at work I need to email in the morning, but to take time out from the hustle and bustle and think about things that are important but that sometimes get pushed to the back of my mind due to lack of time. To contemplate the true meaning of Christmas, to think about friends and family who are in need or in ill health, to pray for those suffering, to ask myself the question 'can I help and how?'. Yes, my mind wanders from time to time; my attention span is not always great, but the flame there in front of me helps to bring my mind back to focus on what I want to be thinking about.

This is not something I have done in previous years (even when I've had a candle). But I am hoping it is something I can continue throughout this Advent and in Advent seasons to come. It may only take half an hour or so for the candle to burn down to the next mark, but I am discovering that that time can be the most important, the most precious, time of my day.