Christopher Robin once asked Winnie the Pooh that.
Yesterday was Advent Sunday. First of four Sundays leading up to Christmas. We remind ourselves that Advent is about waiting. Waiting for one who is to come.
Not simply waiting for Christmas but about waiting for a bigger truth to be revealed. Christians believe that what was begun in Jesus will, somehow, one day be completed in him.
Few people have left a bigger mark on human history than Jesus Christ. In our nativity plays we celebrate his birth, adding to a story that is based on pretty flimsy biblical evidence.
And that is great. Universal stories are allowed to be universally interpreted.
But maybe in telling the Christmas story of Jesus we're jumping a bit and we're not being very good at the waiting thing. Whether it's waiting for a doctor's appointment or for a railway to be built or for the fund-raising to reach the target, we want to get on with it. We want the denouement, the coda, the end.
Advent says hey, slow down. You should enjoy the wait. It's OK in the queue.
Back to my opening question.
'Well,' said Pooh, 'what I like best...' and then he had to stop and think. Because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
Well, have I got news for Pooh. It's called waiting. Hoping. Resting. Eager anticipation. Looking forward. But enjoying the moment just before.
Have a great day waiting folks. If you are in a queue you are in a good place.
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