Thoughts for Advent

Away we go (2009) is an interesting movie to watch during Advent. Especially when, like me, you've started to rewatch The Nativity  (the 2010 BBC dramatization about the Biblical Christmas story) as well. 

In Away we go, we meet the thirty-something couple Burt and Verona, who are expecting their first child. When they hear Burt's parents are moving to Europe for two years, they realize the only reason for them to live in California is no longer valid. What follows is a roadtrip through the United States, in which Burt and Verona visit friends and family, trying to find the perfect place for them to settle down and raise their child. On their way, they see a lot of misfortune: broken families, unhappy children, bad parents, which makes them anxious about their own future as parents. How can they be sure they'll be good parents? How can they be sure they'll both always be there? In the end, they realize they cannot solve all their relatives' problems. The only thing they can do is try their best for their own little family.

In the Biblical nativity story and in the BBC dramatization of it, we meet Mary and Joseph, who are also travelling the country and expecting a child. This is where the similarities between the two stories stop, however. Not only did Mary and Joseph not have the comfort of modern transportation like Burt and Verona and had they been forced to travel by an oppressive regime. It was also the Child they were expecting which made all the difference. Burt and Verona worried about how they would keep their child safe and healthy and give it a happy childhood. Mary and Joseph also worried about this, no doubt, but in addition to that, they had so many unanswered questions about their Child. Mary was carrying the long-expected Messiah, but what where they to expect from this Child? How where they to raise and love the Son of God? Was 'doing their best' enough for this Child? As the well-known Christmas song 'Mary, did you know' expresses, what Jesus would become, what miracles He would perform and what death He would die, was all in the dark for Mary and Joseph, as they made their way to Bethlehem. It's a good thing to consider, as we are nearing Christmas, the strong faith these two people must have had, when they were expecting.