It's Advent Eve! {Advent Daybook 2019 Explained}
“Advent’s the poetry. Advent’s the strange deeds that led up to the Great Deed. Advent is the power of the mystery that from the beginning stretches through the immortality of Elijah straight out into time, into Transfiguration, into Easter. Advent is all these things.
Ultimately, Advent is the grand narrative. It’s the one that makes us Christian. It’s the one that ties it all together. This is what we wait for. This is what comes. Amen.”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and I’m not even talking about Christmas yet!
Advent is a season of invitation for the feast that is coming. Practicing Advent for over a decade has formed me spiritually, emotionally, and relationally in ways that are hard to quantify. It’s a little bit of growth year after year that adds up to a quieter soul and a sturdier hope. Each year, the prophets, psalm singers, and gospel writers invite me to see with a clearer lens the mystery of God’s miraculous arrival. The same mystery shapes our entire lives, the waiting for Christ’s next and final arrival. The arrival that we expect is the one that will never end with another good-bye. Oh, mysterious hope!
While Advent trains me to embrace mystery, it also requires me to not look away from the inherent tension of acknowledging that, yes, all shall be well, and all is not yet well. Every year, I sort of hope the prophets' words will be cozier. Why must there be so much talk about God’s justice wiping out man’s evil? Why so many flaming arrows and toppling earth?
The reality of arrival is not a cozy scene, but a cosmic, unstoppable disruption of the kingdom of men by the reigning God and His Son, Jesus, the Christ. Advent is the invitation to walk the pathway of this eternal kingdom. The reign of Christ that’s already here, but not yet fully arrived shines the light for us as we walk. We live in this stretched out parentheses and Advent kindly welcomes our weary souls to contemplate the visible reality of our lives and the world in contrast to the invisible reality of the Christ who came, is with us now, and will most assuredly come again.
In the spirit of Advent’s invitation, I welcome you to walk through the days - one by one - quietly, slowly, and contemplatively. If this all sounds impractically holy, I assure you the best sort of contemplation is what happens when we carry a quiet heart through all the noisy celebration or the sorrowful absences of December.
How to enjoy Advent Daybook posts: Look, Listen, Read, Pray, & Do
Each day of Advent (December 1 - 24) I’ll share a devotional post that includes a work of art, a song, daily Scripture passages, a short prayer, and a simple action to help you practice the waiting days of Advent.
Look
Some might call this devotional practice of visual contemplation Visio Divina, or a divine looking. It’s not the actual work of art that is divine, but the Holy Spirit’s invitation to encounter Christ through nonverbal reflection. Throughout the year I collect digital images that I think will enhance the Scriptural themes of Advent. You’ll notice that some of the images evoke traditional Christmas scenes while others seem to have nothing to do with the holiday season at all. The images rotate through classic and contemporary art of all media. Each week I include an image (usually a photograph) from news headlines of the year. My hope is that the Scripture passages for each day orients the visual art selection and sometimes, honestly, that’s a difficult task. The prophets don’t make cozy, holiday scenes a priority in their descriptive language!
Listen
December is prime time for music lovers! One of my earliest concerns about practicing a slow entry into the Christmas feast was that I’d miss all of the beautiful carols and Christmas songs I’d been singing at the top of my lungs since childhood. And, it’s true - I do miss singing along with most of the world (although, I’ve come to appreciate the store soundtracks as a perk of shopping in December!) What I didn’t know until I’d lived Advent for a few years is that I’d grow the same attachment for the old hymns and carols of Advent.
While I could never get tired of the quintessential Advent hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, there are so many more to enjoy. Almost as much as the Scripture we soak in each year, it’s the theologically rich, melodically beautiful lyrics of Advent that have formed me. Thankfully, as the Church has become increasingly reacquainted with the historic liturgical calendar, there’s been a lovely renaissance of new and retuned music allowing us to raise our voices every season.
Most of the songs I share each day are contemporary versions of old classics or new tunes written for Advent, but each week I try to mix in a choral or traditional arrangement. I try to select quality recordings and include a Spotify, YouTube, and when available, a Bandcamp version for your convenience. Since the music is chosen to enhance the visual art, my family chooses to play the music as a backdrop for contemplating the image. You might choose to do each separately. I also include a link to lyrics for each song so you can sing along if you’d like!
Read
Oh my goodness, I love the lectionary. I’ve always been intrigued by the interweaving of Old and New Testaments for the beauty of the various literary rhythms as well as the deep satisfaction of experiencing the living, breathing word of God that looks backward and forward at the same time. It’s so rich.
If you don’t do anything else with the posts I send each day, read the Scripture passages. I include a link for the complete lectionary passages each day and then excerpt the portions that particularly spoke to me as I was preparing the post. I use the English Standard Version most often, but if you click through the link to the Biblegateway page, you can adjust the version to your preference.
From December 1-16, Sunday Scripture readings are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (Year 2) with only one or two of the daily Psalms. The prophet Amos features prominently in the daily passages this year, and I’ve been trying to get to know him a bit better. The Gospel accounts and the Psalms offer a counterpoint to the weighty prophecies we find tucked into the end of the Old Testament. Read each passage (or the excerpt provided) slowly and listen for the invitation of God to the world, his people, and you.
Starting December 17, I’ll be focusing the reading portion of each post on one of the “O Antiphons” (an ancient liturgy that is the root of the beloved “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” hymn). This is new for me, but I’ve been inspired by Malcolm Guite’s sonnets and a prayer service our church holds during this week. I look forward to sharing the beauty here with you, too.
Pray
Each week the prayers are formed around the Sunday collect (a prayer said by the congregation in Sunday worship). While you could pray directly from the daily Scripture (especially the Psalms) or the hymn lyrics, I include a guided prayer for each day. Once a week, I invite you to a form of intercessory prayer termed “Prayers of the People” in the Book of Common Prayer. This allows us to set aside at least one day to remember each sphere of our world with specific prayer.
Do
The spiritual practice of contemplation, at its best, moves from reflective stillness to thoughtful action. We were made by a Creator to love Him, our neighbors, and ourselves with heart, mind, soul, and strength. I’m delighted to invite you to some simple, daily actions to demonstrate that love outwardly. Some of the activities will feel familiar to the traditional customs of Christmas time, and some will feel new and counterintuitive. It’s all good.
An Advent Community
When I first started this series, I was compelled to create something I’d been looking for and couldn’t find online. While I own and enjoy several printed beautiful devotional books for Advent and Christmas, I was intrigued by the idea of a multi-media, shared experience that can be cultivated online. Since that time, many new and wonderful resources release each year. It’s tempting to dabble in each one, but I encourage you to find what works best for you and to simply, prayerfully walk through each day with intentional companions. I’m honored to be included in your Advent journey!
Each Sunday in Advent I’ll share a free Daybook devotional post at the A Sacramental Life blog for everyone to enjoy. To receive notifications for the free public posts, click "follow" at the bottom of the profile page.
The daily devotional posts will then be available to those who subscribe to the Daybook Meditations ($5 a month) member area.
If you enjoy what I’ve been curating and creating here, please invite your friends to subscribe too! The Daybook devotional posts provide a beautiful experience to be able to share and talk about together. If you’re on Instagram, you and your friends can also follow me there - a_sacramental_life.
Please feel free to email me your questions.
Conversation makes a community so please comment regularly! Let me know how you’re experiencing God’s invitation through the Advent Daybook posts or any other part of your day. I love to hear from you.
Are you looking for a few simple ways to gently add Advent into your home? Here are some lists of what's worked for us over the years.
You can find the books we scatter throughout our house each Advent at the following links: Our 10 favorite Advent devotional books (for all ages) & Our favorite Advent & Christmas books (for all ages)
Here’s a collection of simple ways to prepare your home for Advent: A few simple ways to decorate for Advent
Here’s a post with some of our “go-to” Advent music (although there’s so much good Advent music being released I’d like to update this list!): Our favorite Advent music (for all ages)
May the peace of our Messiah permeate your hearts, minds, bodies, homes, and neighborhoods in the coming weeks. I’m with you and for you in this beautiful work of worship.
Tamara