The onset of Advent in the last days of November is supposed to be the herald of great joy at the jollities to come, but for most of us who have left childhood behind it seems to have become a season of dread. How to get through all that shopping and scribbling of cards with the same old time-worn message, ‘Another year gone and still nothing done’? Worse still, all those dreadful parties, fuelled by gassy champagne and greasy snacks. All I want to do, as soon as the leaves fall and the nights draw in, is to go into hibernation, and it requires a superhuman effort to venture out after dark. (I’ve always suspected that my earlier incarnation was as a dormouse.)
But in the past couple of years I’ve discovered a new way of approaching this melancholy time of year, when everything else in the natural world goes dormant but society expects us to be at our most energetic and convivial. Advent does mean ‘the coming’, but that anticipation also implies preparation. No matter whether you believe or don’t believe, are Christian or Muslim, Sufi or Sikh, Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist, these four weeks of Advent can be a time to check out from the whirl, to look at it from outside and make way for some reflection — sometimes to surprising effect.
This year, as if sending us all an advance Christmas present, the eggheads at Radio Three have come up with the perfect way to prepare, reflect and consolidate. It’s so short, so complete in itself, so utterly in tune with the season that you may not have noticed it. But I defy anyone who has chanced upon The 48 at 8 not to have been hooked immediately.
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