It’s almost two weeks since we had an appointment at the stem cell transplant unit in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The ‘bad stuff’ in my blood although stubborn has diminished and it looks as if the green light for the transplant will be seen in the not too distant future. As always I was impressed by the warmth and sensitivity of the staff particularly as they were outlining a procedure which will be challenging for the patient. They can never guarantee the outcome but what is certain is that along the way there will be hair loss, weight loss, nausea and fatigue. I’ve been aware of this from the beginning but at this stage I just want to get through it, take all the side effects on the chin and begin to put my life and ministry back together. When I read that back I can see that it might come over in a superficially defiant way. It could be another story when I’m in the midst of it all but this is where I am at the moment. Praying that I will get a date soon, that I will be sustained infection free during the treatment, that it will be successful, that I will get back to myself before too long.
What strikes me most of all is that I need to be prepared for a time of loss: hair, weight, strength, general well-being. None of that is welcome but as I consider the event we seek to keep at the centre of this Season it is essentially a story of loss. I once heard Donald Macleod say that Philippians 2: 5-11 is the Incarnation as seen from the perspective of the angels. They had known the Son of God from all eternity and now they see him making himself ‘nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross.’
This is the Son emptying himself of all his diving privileges for the sake of humankind. In a sense suffering loss that he and others might gain. So at a basic level Jesus is on the side of ‘losers’, those who once had and now have to let go. That’s a focal point for us all during Advent. Called to lose those things in our lives that stand against God’s purpose for us, however painful that might be, that we might gain in Christ.
