麻豆约拍

The season of advent might appear to start earlier and get bigger every year: with an entire industry encouraging us to think about Christmas when autumn has barely begun, waiting for the day itself can seem to go on for a long time.

But in the Christian calendar the experience of waiting is itself considered to be valuable. Believers are encouraged during this season to wait not just for Christ's birth in Bethlehem, but also for his daily presence in their lives, as well as his promised second coming and the hope of eternity.

And waiting is something we all have to do: it's a fact of life, and we might have to wait for something much more serious and significant than the cosy anticipation of mulled wine and mince pies. In this programme, Mary hears three very different stories of advent waiting, from people whose lives have been completely changed by the experience.