That title doesn’t seem to fit or go together. I have just been thinking of crosses because the Craig Lodge community have erected the cross on the hill opposite the house. Come to think of it, people don’t like the idea of an instrument of torture and the lovely picture we have of Jesus in the manger with the animals standing by.
Advent is the time of year when the churches look forward to the birth of Christ, the renewal of Christ in our hearts and the Coming or Arrival of Christ at the end of all time. A far cry from when I was a small child and enjoyed crossing off the days of December on an ordinary, rather austere post-war calendar. I am amazed at the plethora of advent calendars and toys. There are calendars with pictures behind opening doors for each day (common when my own children were young); calendars with chocolates behind each door, (they only last till around 3rd December – the chocs often get robbed); and wooden advent toys with drawers for each day and treats or models inside. There are secular “counting down the days” calendars, and Christian ones with nativity figures.
But I can still remember the thrill of anticipation each bedtime, when I crossed the day off the ordinary calendar and went to bed dreaming of a Christmas orange. Happy days……….. or were they?
