To Light, To Bless

resources for Advent

Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash

First Monday

(from my own Advent devotional, Pilgrim God)

home
is the testimony
of the silent things:

the unlit hearth, 
the garden gate, 
the rug, 
the kitchen sink, 
the chill of the floor in the morning,
the evening lamplight
spilling

from the open
front
door. 

Welcome, one and all, to the First Week of Advent!

The season of Advent is one of my absolute favorites, and was one of my first introductions to the liturgical calendar, years and years ago.

Seeking an alternative to the high-energy Christmases of my childhood, my parents stepped outside of our Protestant norms to observe Advent when I was in my early teens. Back then, Advent was deeply un-mainstream in Protestant Christian circles, and my parents had to go to the local Catholic bookstore to find any resources for how to observe, including the candles and books. 

I admit: at first, I didn’t get it. 

It was slow. It was somber. I felt silly reading Scripture every evening and joining hands around the wreath to sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel. None of my other Christian friends were observing it, and the liturgical colors of purple and pink felt so out-of-place in the typical red and green of the holidays. 

But it didn’t take long for me to begin to crave this season-before-the-season. No Christmas feels complete for me, now, without this time of contemplation and quiet, this slow and steady ramp-up to the Feast. I am a complete convert to the sweetness of Advent, and I know I’m not the only one!

For today’s post, I decided to share a short list of some of my personal favorite Advent resources for folks who are new to it, or for longterm observers who want to shake things up. My hope and prayer is that these things would add color, life, and blessing to your Advent, and help you to find the way to observe that feels best for you and your family!

A Quick Note:

Nothing kills the peace and calm of Advent quite like the feeling of obligation, or anxiety, that can come with needing to “do it all”. It’s entirely antithetical to this time of quiet. This time (and this list of resources) is not a to-do list or a piling-on. Instead, each of these things could simply be an invitation to a new corner of Advent’s vast forest of possibilities. Or, they may not be necessary for you at all.

My friend, in case you forget: God knows your heart. All He asks is that you be still and see Him, in this season. Hear the softly-spoken Story that He’s telling through this ancient celebration. If these resources help you to do so, then hold on to them with both hands. But if they don’t? Let them go, with my blessing.

Without further ado, some Advent favorites…

Devotionals

• Pauses for Advent, Trevor Hudson - Perfect for the busy reader, Hudson’s meditations are short, vivid, practical, and usually center around a key word for the day. He has similar devotionals for other liturgical seasons, too!

• Preparing for Jesus, Walter Wangerin Jr. - Walter Wangerin Jr. was a pastor and theologian who most famously wrote the novel The Book of the Dun Cow, but his nonfiction work often goes largely ignored. This devotional for Advent is full of Wangerin’s particular brand of theological truth, mystic sensibilities, and poetic prose. Highly recommended. 

• All Creation Waits, Gayle Boss - A popular favorite for a reason, this sweet devotional focuses on one wild woodland animal at a time, using their particular instinct and nature as a colorful meditation for the season. I’ve heard this is a GREAT read with kids!

• Advent Storybook, Antonie Schneider - Would you believe me, a grown adult, if I told you that I read a children’s book every Advent? I do! The Advent Storybook is a lovely daily devotional with adorable illustrations by Maja Dusíková and sweet, gently biblical messages, and it’s a genuine delight.

Other Books

• Hundred Dollar Holiday,

  Bill McKibben
  - In many ways “the book that started it all”, this little book was the inspiration behind my parents’ search for a calmer, quieter, more meaningful holiday season all those years ago, and it remains an iconic part of our family Advent. It’s small and quick to read, and though it’s a few decades old it still contains a LOT of wisdom about how to approach Christmas. I read it every year.

• To Dance With God, Gertrud Mueller Nelson - It’s impossible to overstate how vital to my own faith journey this book has been since I first read it almost fifteen years ago. Nelson’s gentle wisdom about the sacredness of seasonality, embracing both darkness and light, and seeing God in the mundane has made me the Christian—and the person—I am today. This book mainly focuses on Advent and Christmas but has resources and ideas for the whole liturgical year.

• The Manger Is Empty, Walter Wangerin Jr. - Walter Wangerin Jr. is one of my favorite writers (which is why he’s on this list twice!), and this little book of short stories is a beautiful, poetic, fiction-flavored look at the Christmas holiday. Steeped in theology, Wangerin understands both the beauty and the pain of this season, and his stories reflect his deep heart of compassion. An underrated writer, and an underrated book.

Music

During Advent, I prefer to set the mood with music that is calm, melodic, and (often) on the more obscure end of the holiday hymns spectrum! I keep all of my upbeat, holly-jolly music until the Twelve Days of Christmas, as much as I can help it.

Some of my favorite Advent songs/carols:

• Of The Father’s Love Begotten

• Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming

• Gaudete

• Personent Hodie

• The Wexford Carol

Versions of all of these (and many more!) can be found on my own personally-curated Advent playlist! It features folksy, instrumental, Celtic-inspired, choral, and generally non holly-jolly music for your Advent season. I hope it blesses!

Listen to “Wildroot Advent” on YouTube Music!

On Substack

• Signs + Seasons - anyone interested in liturgical living should check out this beautiful collaborative project by

  Kristin Haakenson
  ,
  Sara Dietz
  , and
  Dixie Dillon Lane
  ! Check out their first Advent Round-Up here!

• Show and Tell: Five Poetry Books for the Season-Advent Through Epiphany - a fantastic list of Advent poetry books, put together by poet

  Jody L. Collins
  !

Discussion Question

And now, dear friends, I turn it back on YOU! What are some of YOUR favorite Advent books, music, and other resources?

Share with us below!

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