A Christmas mystery

For possibly the first time in my life, I'm actually managing to do an Advent study - I bought a study guide a few years ago but never really got round to using it properly. Last week I read about the Patriarchs, this week it's the Prophets and so on and so forth. I have to be honest - it might help me to be a bit disciplined about reading a chunk of the Bible every day (never a bad thing) but it's not very inspiring. That's more a reflection on the study guide part of the study guide rather than the actual Bible bit - I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to suggest that the Bible isn't inspiring.

But alongside the "proper" Advent study I'm reading a book that my family bought years ago with a view to reading it together in the run up to Christmas. We never actually succeeded. Called The Christmas Mystery and it's about a young Swedish boy called Joachim who finds a magic Advent calendar in an old bookshop and discovers that behind each door is a picture and a tiny piece of paper. The story which unfolds is that of a journey - well, two journeys really. As the days creep by, Joachim learns about Elspeth and her journey to Bethlehem, but also grows in his own understanding of the real meaning of Christmas. Well, at least I assume that's what happens - it's only December 7 and there's still seventeen chapters to go!

The book, while aimed at children, has an almost Narnian ability to engage adults who want to give their inner child a Christmas outing, and it's fair to say I'm enjoying it much more than my grown-up book! And Joachim was right about one thing:

He knew that Jesus had loved everyone, but in his dream he had been fond of chocolate too.