It was December 1981 and the train that generally arrived in Malahide at about 8:08 a.m. was approaching the station over the viaduct. It was almost 8:15 and a school friend who travelled with me muttered: "In Germany they list seconds on the timetable." His sister had just returned from there so I had no reason to doubt what I was told. At the same time I didn't quite understand how the Germans could live with being so calculated. I also knew that my own time-keeping was so awful that I could never live in Germany.
Eight years later I arrived in West Berlin and, to my relief, found that timetables were like our own. I felt a sense of relief that German trains didn't run exactly on time either. They were reasonably punctual, but not to the point of being inhuman. That trip to Berlin was one of the best journeys I have made. As impoverished students, we travelled by train and ferry for three days, experiencing the differing cultures, languages, food and attitudes of the people we met en route.
Since then my world has changed and my travelling has become more sophisticated. Nowadays I always travel in a metal canister that whisks me through the air and, like Jonah's whale, vomits me up on the shores of another culture. In two hours I can be transported from the relative comfort of my home town to the chaos and bustle of a different language, culture, menu and lifestyle. On the way I experience nothing. I read a bland inflight magazine and stare at the tops of clouds. This is not travel, this is transposition. That's the way we all like to do things today.
This is the world of ready-to-go telephones, instant coffee, microwave meals, fast food, rapid transit, supersonic travel. . .If there is one characteristic that will mark the way of life we have chosen today it is our demand for convenience and efficiency. If something requires complicated preparation, then it is often just left undone. What has become of the dictum, "If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well"?
If something is worth doing well then it will need some preparation. If it is a social event, there are guest-lists to compile, menus to plan and huge amounts of culinary work to be undertaken. Preparation involves joy. If not, the event is called a chore.
Aside from the incessant moaning about consumerism and the continual gripes about the meaninglessness of December 25th, Christmas is still an important event in the Christian calendar. The churches spend a few weeks preparing for a feast that is worth doing well. We call this season Advent. If Christmas still has a religious meaning, this is a joyful season of preparation. This celebration even gives the commercial side of Christmas a value. As we celebrate God's gift of Emmanuel - God among us - then the exchange of gifts is a partaking in the generosity that is so central to the meaning of Christmas. When the meaning of Christmas is lost then the consumerism is quite often hollow, lonely, tacky - and maybe we could call it a chore!
During the four weeks of Advent it is worth taking some time aside to ask those questions that we should all ask before any event. Is this day going to be what I want it to be? Does this feast mean anything to me at all? Is this day worth celebrating at all? Is this day going to be a day of over-indulgence in food and drink, sitting in front of a television and waiting for bedtime? If all your answers are pessimistic then maybe you could use this season to change the chore into a feast.
Like a journey Berlin, the Church year has its experiences and people to meet on the way. It has its good parts and it has some difficult parts. If your idea of celebrating your Christianity is touching down in the airports called Christmas, Easter and Patrick's Day, then you have arrived but have never travelled. As somebody transposed who hasn't travelled, you did not experience the subtle changes on the ground. We may have some surprises for you when you jet in. Please notice that our trains don't run on time and everything you heard about us isn't quite as true as you may have believed it once was!
F.MacE.