For the twelfth day of Advent, Rev Scott Brown, the minister at Buchlyvie with Gartmore in Stirling Presbytery and convener of the Church of Scotland's Committee on Chaplains to His Majesty's Forces, has written a reflection on our theme for this year — Prepare The Way For The Lord.

Former Royal Navy chaplain Rev Scott Brown has written a reflection for this year's Advent calendar theme, 'Prepare The Way For The Lord'.

Advent and Christmas are special seasons in the Christian Year, as we anticipate and celebrate the coming of the Christ Child.

In 2002, I was the Chaplain in HMS Cardiff, and we had Christmas in the port of Jebel Ali, near Dubai.

I was invited onto the Canon Roger Royle show on BBC Radio 2 on Christmas morning. It was an odd experience standing at the stern of the ship, on a mobile phone, knowing that you were being heard by a significant number of people. It was the usual mix of light-hearted questions, about what the ship's company was doing differently to celebrate Christmas in the heat of the desert.

The Senior Rates' Mess promised me a bottle of port if I could get the word "pineapple'" into my interview. Roger's question of, ‘" is the food any different from a traditional Christmas lunch?", could only be answered along the lines of, "not too different, but we are in the heat of the desert, so maybe not Christmas pudding, maybe pineapple or other fruits!"

On a more serious note, little did we realise that what we now call the second Gulf War was only a matter of weeks away.

At the ship's Christmas Day service, there were three things to focus on – that the Prince of Peace would reign, particularly in that region and at that particular time; that we might know something of the hope of the Christmas message; and that we had an opportunity to pray for our families and loved ones, as well as those who were deemed to be our enemies.

Separation from loved ones is a normal part of Service life, and every Service man or woman understands that, but it is particularly difficult over the Christmas season.

We remember our military personnel and their Chaplains who are deployed today, in the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force, and we remember their families at home.

The role of the Chaplain very much came to the fore in the weeks that followed that particular Christmas. In all three Services, the Chaplain or Padre would look after the spiritual and pastoral care of their people, where they are. Colleagues were supporting our families at home while we were deployed. The Committee on Chaplains to His Majesty's Forces continues this function, on behalf of the wider church, to offer care and support for our Chaplains and their families. For those of us on the Committee there is no greater privilege.

May those deployed this Christmastime, know too the same peace and hope and the love that endures all things. May the ministry of their Chaplains be a blessing to many.