In the first of this year’s Advent Meditations, Paula Gooder looks at the Gospel of Luke and Christ’s admonition to wait – a transformative experience that requires alertness at all times, especially as it seems to fly in the face of our ‘have it now’ society Waiting. Life is filled with it, but it rarely gets easier. It takes many forms from the mundane to the life-changing: from waiting for a checkout to become vacant at the supermarket, to waiting for medical results; from waiting for public transport finally to make an appearance, to waiting to find a new job. No matter what we wait for, good waiting requires a great deal from us.But waiting is not something that today’s culture encourages. We are urged, especially as Christmas approaches, to take