Advent: A Holy Invitation

Advent: A Holy Invitation to Perceive

By Lindsay L. O’Connor

I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?

-Isaiah 43:19

Three and a half weeks before my firstborn child was due to arrive, I spent the day on the couch. We were deep into the month of July in one of the hottest Texas summers on record. I had finished my last year of teaching, knowing I would not return in the fall, and had nothing to do but prepare for this baby.

Lazy, I thought. Why am I so lazy today? 

I couldn’t seem to make my body get up to get anything done. Little did I know, my body was doing plenty as I lounged on the couch that hot summer day. It was preparing to give birth that very night to our miracle baby, the one the doctor had said I had miscarried just over six months before.

The season of Advent invites us into the practice of hopeful expectation, which sounds lovely until we layer this onto the busy-ness, distraction, and sometimes even grief that may be present during the holiday season. Hopeful expectation requires a posture of quiet listening and opening to an awareness of the presence of the Holy, which is not separate from the secular but actually saturates the mundane if we will only perceive it. When we slow down, we make room for noticing, which paves the way for wonder, curiosity, creativity, and discernment. 

Hope can feel difficult to come by these days. However, it is not something we can conjure up on our own; it is something we receive when we are attentive to the Spirit because the Spirit is always breathing new life into the darkness. The world may seem to be languishing in darkness amidst unimaginable suffering, but the Creator is ever present, residing in the mystery of living, dying, and rising. When we tune into the movement of the Spirit, we begin to notice the subtle signs of a coming birth, and we receive the hope that accompanies new life. 

In July 2011, I was frustrated with my body’s refusal to cooperate with my desire to be productive, but I now see the irony of feeling unproductive when my body was quite literally producing new life. The process leading up to birth can include a period of a quiet that may look like a lack of productivity while something is brewing below the surface. 

We were created in the Divine image, and we are like our Maker when we create. Feeling overwhelmed, burned out, discouraged, or cynical can be a holy invitation to get quiet and still. A lack of energy and motivation for productivity might actually be a gentle invitation to surrender and notice what is forming below the surface, preceding the birth of something beautiful. If we will allow, God may even bestow upon us the honor of serving as the conduit for new life.

When we find ourselves lying on the couch—literally or metaphorically—and wondering why we are feeling so tired and unproductive, may we let ourselves get quiet and still. In the stillness, we become attentive as we watch for signs of coming birth pangs and prepare to behold the mystery of new life, for who knows what new thing the Spirit might be compelling us to perceive?

###
If you enjoyed this blog, please click the “like” button below

2022 Advent & Christmas Recommendations

AUMC Advent & Christmas Recommendations

The holiday season is upon us! This time of year is often a blur of activity that seems to leave little time for reflection. If you’re like many people, your well-intentioned hopes and plans to tend to your spiritual wellbeing and reflect on the deeper meaning of the Christmas season often fall by the wayside. If you are looking for practical ways to incorporate moments to consider and be present to the spiritual meaning of this season, consider these simple, concrete ideas shared by the Arapaho UMC staff.

Cathy’s Recommendations

In addition to the listing of Sunday morning classes below*, I'd like to recommend a few other individual Advent activities that I've come upon:

1. I'm a huge fan of Jan Richardson. She's a writer, artist, and United Methodist Minister who is known for word and image. She facilitates online retreats, and it's been awhile since she's had an Advent retreat. Thankfully, she's crafted one for us this year to include weekly readings, blogging, and reflections. The cost is $90, and you can join at any time through this link: https://www.janrichardson.com/adventretreat . Pastor Cathy will be participating along with anyone else who registers, so please let her know and we can share in discussion throughout Advent.

2. I'm also a fan of Doctoral candidate Katy Stenta, who is focusing her DMin studies on Creative Writing and liturgy, with a strong focus on justice, mercy, and light. She is a public theologian whose works are quoted in various media. You can learn more about her writings at katyandtheword.com . This year, she has created a calendar of Advent readings, starting on Dec 4. You can find those recommended readings HERE. Consider reading daily and journaling your thoughts about how the readings connect to the period of waiting during Advent. Waiting for what? And how?

3. John Pavlovitz is another of my go-to writers. His Advent devotional "Low: An Honest Advent Devotional" is a humbling look past the consumerism of Christmas, into the places where God comes into our lives as Jesus did at his birth. "As we walk the road of Advent, Jesus reminds us the invitation is not to escape this world to an elevated Heaven somewhere else, but to bring Heaven down. “God with us” is Jesus, getting low." You can purchase the devotional at our church site HERE. 

4.  Finally, Happy New Year! The church year officially "starts" with Advent, which means that Nov 27, 2022 was the first day of the new year: the first Sunday of Advent. The Revised Common Lectionary  (RCL) is a compilation of readings, over a three year cycle, that mirrors the liturgical year, and thus, Advent in December. The RCL is shared by most denominations that follow the liturgical year; thus, it's something that we have in common with other denominations. You can find the readings for this year's lectionary (Year A) HERE, and focus on the Advent readings for this season. Then, continue with readings through the year, if you'd like.

Aaron’s Recommendation

In Room 2 we will spend our Advent Sundays noticing what we see as we look at the paintings from Scott The Painter. In his book "Honest Advent" (co-written with Morgan Harper Nichols) we are able to notice new things about the story of Jesus' beginnings. Scott tells us that this book is a visual project in which he contemplated the vulnerability of the incarnation. My favorite part of the story to envision is seeing Mary as the new Eve. In his portrait entitled "Motherhood," Scott envisions a meeting between Eve and Mary. Eve's face is sad as she has dropped an apple and the snake is wrapped around her leg. And yet, Mary is there to comfort her. She places Eve's hand on her pregnant belly and strokes her hair. Mary steps onto the snake and they share a knowing gaze. These two women mean so much when it comes to representing the divine feminine of scripture and I am grateful for how vulnerable Scott presents them. 

You can view all of the artwork found in this book at https://www.honestadvent.com/artshow. 

Lindsay’s Recommendations

Our family (my husband and two daughters, ages 7 and 11) began a new-to-us Advent tradition a few years ago that the girls now look forward to each year. We like to find a book with brief Advent reflections to read after dinner on the nights that we are all home, and the girls take turns lighting the appropriate Advent candles. 

The key to making this doable and meaningful is to find a book that is interesting and easy to understand for both girls. It helps if it has very short readings that we can fit in on busy evenings. This provides a brief moment for us to pause, reflect, and discuss amidst all the hustle and bustle of the season. I’ve learned to let go of turning it into a “must-do” and instead, we simply enjoy it on the nights when we have time and let it go on the nights when we don’t!

Books we have used:

1. All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss – This has been our favorite so far! It has stories about the way various animals hibernate and makes a connection between winter hibernation and Advent as a season of darkness and waiting.

2. The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones - If you start at the beginning, there are 25 stories leading up to the story of Jesus’ birth. This does an excellent job of showing how all the stories in the Bible point to the Jesus.

3. The Voices of Christmas audiobook by Nikki Grimes – This tells parts of the Christmas story through 14 poems, each written from the perspective of a different character in the Christmas story.

This year, we are going to check out one of Arnold Ytreeide’s Advent books. He’s written Ishtar’s Odyssey, Jotham’s Journey, and Tabitha’s Travels. These readings are a little longer but are written as a historical fiction narrative, so they are still engaging. This one is better for mid-late elementary and middle school-aged children.

===

If you enjoyed this article, would you please click “like” below?

Christmas Invitation

Pastor Blair offers a Christmas message and invitation in this short two-minute video. Watch her explore the message of "Silent Night" and reflect on the meaning of silence in the story of Jesus' birth and in our lives today.

We hope you'll watch and share it as a way to invite friends and family to our Christmas Eve services.

Plan to include worship in your Christmas Eve plans this year. Our 5:30 service is geared toward families with children. We'll share the nativity story through scripture and the singing of our favorite hymns as the story is acted out. Children will hear a special message and the service will end with candlelight.

Our 7:30 and 11 p.m. services include Pastor Blair's sermon "God Comes Anyway," and concludes with communion and candlelight. The 7:30 service will feature music by our choir; the 11 p.m. service includes an instrumental trio.

May you experience the wonder and joy of the good news that comes to us at Christmas: God is with us! We are not alone.

Peace be with you.