It
struck
me
how
short
our
memories
are.
The
majority
of
people
in
this
country
have
no
experience
of
the
songs
of
the
sixties
or
of
life
in
Rhodesia
and
seemingly
most
don’t
even
ask
what
it
was
like.
A
book
on
the
history
of
South
Africa,
by
Leonard
Thompson,
opens
with
the
statement:
‘Modern
Western
Culture
is
inordinately
present-minded.
Politicians
are
ignorant
of
the
past
…
People
lack
a
sense
of
their
location
in
time
and
fail
to
perceive
that
contemporary
society
is
constrained
by
its
cultural
as
well
as
its
biological
inheritance.’
How
different
the
Israel/Palestine
situation
might
be
if
leaders
there
paid
attention
to
history.
If
we
are
ignorant
of
the
past,
we
can
be
even
more
so
of
the
future.
Yet
Scripture
plies
us
with
reminders
of
what
will
happen
even
if
it
does
so
in
poetic
language
which
both
hides
–
and
reveals
–
the
future:
‘The
glory
of
the
Lord
shall
be
revealed
and
all
humankind
shall
see
it.
…Go
up
on
a
high
mountain
…Shout
with
a
loud
voice
…
Here
is
the
Lord
coming
with
power,
his
arm
subduing
all
things.
The
prize
of
his
victory
is
with
him
…’
The
message
is
one
of
extraordinary
joy,
consolation
and
comfort.
This
is
the
first
message
of
what
the
Church
calls
Advent,
the
season
of
‘Coming’.
The
second
message,
the
one
John
the
Baptiser
was
so
forceful
about,
is
preparation.
The
coming
will
not
just
happen,
like
The
Beatles
turning
up
to
perform
at
a
concert.
The
coming
will
only
happen
when
we
are
prepared
and
we
are
taking
our
time
at
doing
it;
two
thousand
years
so
far.
We
are
so
slow
to
learn
how
to
prepare
despite
the
gospels
being
full
of
instructive
guidelines.
The
basic
one
is
‘losing
your
life
in
order
to
find
it’
(Mk
8:35).
Jesus
said
this
repeatedly
and
then
did
it
himself.
And
his
is
‘the
Way’.
So
the
practice
of
‘losing
my
life’
in
every
event
of
every
day
is
the
key
to
the
future.
Sport,
art,
politics
and
religion
all
shout
this
at
us
‘from
a
high
mountain.’
Advent
is
the
time
to
hear
this
message.
If
we
could
find
our
way
to
do
so,
we
could
bring
justice
and
development
to
the
nation
and
not
just
this
nation
but
countries
everywhere.
OK,
it’s
a
dream.
But
dreams
have
a
habit
of
coming
true.
Martin
Luther
King’s,
for
instance.
10
December
2023
Advent
2B
Is
40:1…11
2
Pt
3:8-14
Mk
1:1-8
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in:
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