On one of my catch ups with a friend recently we got talking about our Primary School days. One of the conversations we had was about the songs we used to sing at our school Christmas carols. All the classic songs you would expect at carols were there. One of the songs I felt was rather depressing even for someone at such a young age. I remember it being played for a television ad to promote safe driving on the roads during the busy season. At the time I didn’t fully appreciate the context in which it was written and the message behind the song.

Only in later years did we discover that it is one of the songs by John Lennon. He released “So This is Christmas” in the early 70s during the height of the wars in South East Asia. The lyrics moves me more as an adult and brings me back to those years of school. It moves me because the special time of the year for family and for rest are upended by conflicts. The song asks when will all the conflicts end?

The song is deeply reflective. There is a deep longing for better days: days of peace to enjoy each other’s company, days to celebrate holidays and seasons. All the sadness of the past are hopefully behind and people can look forward to the New Year without any fears. Even though this song does not  even mention or whisper anything religious or about Christ apart from Christ-mas the lyrics however screams a longing.  All of human kind no matter who they are: the rich and the poor, the young and the old, people of all colour. They all long for  joy over sadness and laughter over tears.

For us during this Advent season we long for the coming of the one to come as John the Baptist says “the one who is coming after me”. Although John was highly respected and effective in his ministry he acknowledges his own efforts are not worthy of comparison to the “One”. The words of Isaiah promises the one to come and what that means for the people who has this longing. “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison; to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.”

In the lead up to Christmas may our longings be directed and drawn to a child whose birth satisfies everyone’s need for hope and joy.