The run-up to Christmas is busy, busy, busy. All those presents to buy and wrap; the mince pies to bake; the Christmas tree lights to disentangle; the nativity costumes to make. And yet, deep down, we know that there is more to it than this.

      Christmas carols sing to us over the radio and echo in our hearts, a rich tradition, reminding us of something we learned long ago; reminding us of a birth, shepherds, a star and angels. If we can but find a moment to pause, to reflect, our hectic preparations can find a new meaning. We’re preparing to welcome God, born in a manger, born for us. This is the greatest gift of all. The rest is just wrapping.

      The aim of this little book is to help us to carve out that moment to ponder. It’s pocket sized to slip easily into a jacket pocket, a briefcase, a shopping bag. That moment on the commuter train, that break for a cup of tea in the middle of the shopping frenzy, the quiet before bed when the house is still and everyone sleeps – these can be moments of rest and renewal, of comfort and challenge. God-with-us. What might that mean for us today?

       Each of the five chapters has its own emphasis and theme.

      Waiting – covers the season of Advent. Advent Sunday falls at the end of November and gives us four weeks to prepare for Christmas. Perhaps this is the hardest time of all in which to carve out moments to think and pray, but if we can, our efforts will be rewarded and our Christmas celebrations will be all the richer. This chapter contains a prayer a day for the first three weeks of Advent. Each week begins on a Sunday and offers food for thought to nourish us in our busyness. The emphasis is on our preparations to greet the Christmas child, but there are echoes too of the time when we will welcome Christ again – not as a helpless baby born in a manger, but as the King of the universe, at the end of time coming in power to judge the world.

      Expecting – steps up a gear and gives us material for contemplation in the final few days before Christmas. We think of Mary waiting to give birth, pondering in her heart the mystery surrounding her child, the promises of the angel. The ancient Advent Antiphons surround the last seven days of Advent with strange imagery – hinting at all that the Christ child will be. Unfamiliar images, they call out for our attention and whet our appetite to learn more about the longed-for promised Messiah and the stories that foretell his birth.

      Welcoming – the miracle that is Christmas. This chapter aims to capture the magic of Christmas Eve, the stillness of the midnight hour, the silence before the storm of the celebrations the following day. The weeks of preparation are finally over and we silently welcome a tiny child who will change the course of history. And who can change the course of our lives too.

      Celebrating – let the bells ring out – it’s Christmas! Bells, carols, incense, presents, crackers, celebrations. We’ve prepared long and hard and now we relax and rejoice in the birth of a long-expected baby. In the middle of our celebrations we call to mind those for whom Christmas is a difficult time – the bereaved, the broken families, the depressed and ill. We remember that they are the ones to whom Jesus ministers first. And he calls us to do the same.

      Journeying – we never stand