It took me some time to get used to the noise. Now when the children have a day off and are not here I am troubled by the silence. Normally we expect a church to be a quiet place, for prayer and contemplation. I have learned that if you need quiet for prayer Peace is not the place to come. Between the children doing their thing and the telephone ringing almost constantly this is anything but a quiet place.
Advent is like that.
It is a season that anticipates quiet from us. It is intended to be a season of reflection and contemplation, of spiritual renewal as we prepare for the festival of Christ Mass, but that isn't how it goes for most of us. Instead it is a season filled with shopping, baking and preparation of a very different sort. It is typically noisy, troubled and full of hard work. It can be troubled because we seem to become more aware of our discontent with life or family or our worry about the past.