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:
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.
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.
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?