There’s the McDonald’s new Christmas ad, the BBC Christmas schedule announcement, huge supermarket stocks of Quality Street, Mariah Carey and Slade piping through the shops - and I caught a glimpse of the Coca Cola advert on TV last night.
This all means Christmas is definitely on its way and I can’t wait.
Quality Street chocolates: a symbol of Christmas? Photo by Caro Wallis.
According to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, this is precisely the problem; he has called this “instant gratification”.
In the spirit of Christmas games, we’re now going to play the word association game. I say ‘Advent’. You say…….? (comment and let me know).
Most likely you said calendar (and weren’t influenced at all by the big picture).
Chocolate = advent? Photo by Patrick Q.
In response, to the association of Advent with “daily sweets and chocolate” the Archbishop Council has created an alternative advent calendar in the form of a website called Why Are We Waiting?
In order to promote his message more efficiently, the Archbishop has also been the star of a YouTube video, which contrasts religious pictures with High Street shopping and Dr Williams encourages us to have a little patience around the festive period.
Dr Williams believes most people and it has therefore lost its meaning. He continued to say “Christmas comes too soon“.
I thought it was only my Dad and other like-minded Scrooges who thought Christmas came too soon (my Dad once tried to ban Christmas in our house – but that’s a different story). Perhaps they have a point: I’ve already got my eye on my advent calendar and managed to work my way through a box of Quality Street.
Here’s another YouTube video by Times’s religion correspondent, Ruth Gledhill, who is hanging out with some bishops and explores their campaign to ‘Pray Now Buy Later’.
I shall feel very guilty when I delve into my Cadbury’s Advent Calendar in a few days.
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