Stirring it all up!

I'm thinking today about something almost all of us do multiple times every day.  But I'll keep you guessing for a few more lines while I tell you about my mother.  It's partly my fault, I confess, that her final years were increasingly lonely.  In her eighteen years of widowhood, I visited her as often as I could - no, let me be honest - as often as I was willing to do so but, of course, it could never be enough.  When we cleared her house after her death, we found her teaspoon ... with about an eighth of the bowl worn away!

It brings tears to my eyes as I remember the discovery; I can imagine her now, sitting at her table, gazing absently out of the window, stirring, stirring, stirring that cup of tea ...  It's an activity with a definite purpose, to distribute the flavour throughout the drink,  but in her case the purpose had long since been achieved and the action was just something for her hand to do while her mind was ... who knows where?

I apologise if the next comment seems unseasonable; I assure you it's not.  The last Sunday before the beginning of Advent - we're talking the end of November - used to be called 'Stir-up Sunday'.  In some households, I don't doubt, it still is.  I was told it was because that was the day when Christmas puddings would be prepared, and each member of the family was invited to stir and make a wish.  As good a reason is to be found in the Book of Common Prayer, where the collect, or set prayer, for the 'Sunday next before Advent' begins, "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people;".

The prayer calls for those whose wills are thus stirred to be rewarded for bringing forth good works.  The stirring that is requested (who actually beseeches these days?) is that the fruits of the Holy Spirit - see Paul's letter to the Galatians (Gal. 5:22) if you can't remember what they are - should be sufficiently agitated as to penetrate every part of our lives so that anyone having anything to do with us would know that we had been touched by God.

On the seventh Sunday after Easter, we shall celebrate the feast of Pentecost, commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Disciples in the form of tongues of fire.  The traditional name for this feast - Whitsunday - is said to be derived from the white garments worn by those expecting to be baptised that Sunday, or alternatively new (white) summer dresses that might make an appearance that day.  Another theory, however, dates from the time of the Norman Conquest when the Old English 'hwitte' (white) became confused with 'wit' (wisdom or understanding) (which is known in modern English in 'half-wit' or sayings like 'hasn't the wit he was born with').  This latter offers a more direct link with the Holy Spirit which brought new understanding to the Disciples.

However you prefer to think of the derivation, the fundamental aim of the feast is to remind us of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and encourage us to exercise those Spirit-derived fruits in our lives ... which is why that pre-Advent prayer is so relevant just now.  So when you next find a spoon in your hand for its drink-stirring purpose, let it also remind you of the reason the drink is being stirred, and of what might need to be stirred in your heart!