Arrival: Advent Daybook 1
An Advent daybook for these weeks of prayerful expectation.
Pray: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you've created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Look: Collection of Joseph and Mary looking for a room in Bethlehem
Sources - Luc-Olivier Merson | Paul Gauguin | Pieter Bruegel the Elder | Henry Ossawa Tanner | Portinari Altarpiece | Pranas Domšaitis | Everett Patterson | Helen Siegl | Eugene Higgins
Listen**: The Darkest Night of the Year (album), Over the Rhine - Spotify | YouTube
Read**: Isaiah 64:1-9a; Psalm 80; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; Mark 13:24-37
Excerpts:
"Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil — to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him."
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"O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers? You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us an object of contention for our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved!
But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name!
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"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
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"But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
- Isaiah 64:1-5 * Psalm 80:4-7, 17-18 * 1 Corinthians 1:4-8 * Mark 13:32-37 (ESV)
Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the First Sunday in Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Do: Enjoy a slow, steady increase of light as Christmas approaches.
If you haven't done a single thing yet to get ready for Advent, you are exactly on time. That's the beauty of a season of preparation like Advent. It's a gradual, unfolding story. Today, gather four or five candles in a special place in your house you can come back to each day of Advent. Light one candle this week and add another candle each of the following weeks until you have four burning with the fifth one, the Christ candle, reserved for Christmas morning.
You might also enjoy: A few simple ways to decorate for Advent
These daily devotional posts are available to those who subscribe at the Daybook ($5 a month) level.
For an introduction read this post: Advent Daybook Explained. You can see previous Advent daybook 2019 posts here.
* Listen to my entire playlist on Spotify: Advent 2020: Gracious Invitation. Add it to your account by clicking right clicking on the three dots and selecting "Save to Library".
** Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year B of the Book of Common Prayer 2019 (Anglican Church of North America). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 1).