What sort of an Advent message is this?

From the Archbishop of Canterbury's Advent message (snipped from ENS):

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has used his Advent letter to the Primates of the Anglican Communion and moderators of the United Churches to reiterate that the "Communion matters" to its members across the world and to the mission of God.

"The communion is a gift, not a problem to all such people and many more. Only in such a mutually supportive family, glorifying and praising God in Christ together, can we truly make known the one Christ."

So far, so good.

The Archbishop's letter acknowledged the "numerous tensions" in the communion, but cautioned communion members never to say "I have no need of you" to anyone seeking to serve Jesus Christ. He also used the letter to appeal for "more careful and dispassionate discussion" on such issues as the powers of Primates' meetings as well as calling for "a sustained willingness on the part of all provinces to understand the different ways in which each local part of the Anglican family organizes its life."

Williams also commended the Anglican Communion Covenant "as strongly as I can," stressing that it would neither change the structure of the Communion nor give "some sort of absolute power of 'excommunication' to some undemocratic or unrepresentative body."

"It outlines a procedure, such as we urgently need, for attempting reconciliation and for indicating the sorts of consequences that might result from a failure to be fully reconciled," he said. "It alters no Province's constitution, as it has no canonical force independent of the life of the Provinces. It does not create some unaccountable and remote new authority but seeks to identify a representative group that might exercise a crucial advisory function." (1, see below)

He said the fact that the moratoria were being "increasingly ignored" was deepening mistrust "which is bad for our mission together as Anglicans, and alongside other Christians as well. The question remains: if the moratoria are ignored and the Covenant suspected, what are the means by which we maintain some theological coherence as a communion and some personal respect and understanding as a fellowship of people seeking to serve Christ?"

Out of 13 paragraphs, only paragraph 9 comes close to speaking to the mystery of Advent, the child in the crib whose gaze looks to the heavens.

I can't say that this letter is one I would hold up as particularly inspiring in regards to Advent.

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The letter states (direct quote):

(1) 7. This of course relates also to the continuing discussion of the Anglican Covenant. How it is discussed, the timescale of discussion and the means by which decisions are reached will vary a lot from Province to Province. We hope to see a full report of progress at next year's Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting. In spite of many assurances, some Anglicans evidently still think that the Covenant changes the structure of our Communion or that it gives some sort of absolute power of 'excommunication' to some undemocratic or unrepresentative body. With all respect to those who have raised these concerns, I must repeat that I do not see the Covenant in this light at all. It sets out an understanding of our common life and common faith and in the light of that proposes making a mutual promise to consult and attend to each other, freely undertaken. It recognizes that not doing this damages our relations profoundly. It outlines a procedure, such as we urgently need, for attempting reconciliation and for indicating the sorts of consequences that might result from a failure to be fully reconciled. It alters no Province's constitution, as it has no canonical force independent of the life of the Provinces. It does not create some unaccountable and remote new authority but seeks to identify a representative group that might exercise a crucial advisory function. I continue to ask what alternatives there are if we want to agree on ways of limiting damage, managing conflict and facing with honesty the actual effects of greater disunity. In the absence of such alternatives, I must continue to commend the Covenant as strongly as I can to all who are considering its future.

[end quote]

Obviously our Constitution and Canons does not seem to apply here. I don't know where he gets the idea that a province's constitution will not be altered. And I don't know why one should be speaking of 'damage.' All depends in the eyes of the beholder, methinks.