Letting Advent Come to You

(If You Can't Run Out to Greet It This Year)

Hello from chilly but blessedly not rainy Seattle, where I write surrounded by boxes of Christmas decorations. The kids are off school the whole week of Thanksgiving, and this, I think, is the primary reason why Advent has snuck up on me this year. (Parenting is a full-contact sport at our house.)

Some years we’re all ready with our Advent wreaths and devotionals, and some years we’re…on the back of a donkey, hoping there might be some room at the inn when we show up in Bethlehem. I’m reminding myself that that’s okay. I’d hoped to put together an Advent with Rilke guide, but it’ll have to wait for another year. I’d hoped to have some online gatherings, but those will have to wait too. Somehow this past month has been a whirlwind (finishing my book, lots of time off school, and the general low-pitched chaos of family life). If that’s where you’re finding yourself too, let me take your hands into mine and tell you that it’s okay.

Some years we rush out to greet Advent. Some years we have to let it come to us.

I always try to put together a short list of Advent resources for you, and this year it’s extra short, but no less sweet:

The Jesuit Conference has a free email reflection series on Christmas songs that you can sign up for here. I got to write about “Fairytale of New York,” and it was the get of the century!

Pray As You Go has a lovely audio retreat you can pop in your ears while wrapping presents or folding laundry. I always find them so soothing.

If you’re looking to spend Advent awash in the tender brilliance of women, I recommend Wisdom’s Dwelling. They are magnificent all year round, and they have an Advent series!

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A Few Hopeful Things:

-The morning after the election, I received a Facebook message from someone at Canterbury Cathedral informing me that they were going to use one of my prayers in their Advent carol service and asking for my birth year to make proper attribution. Dear reader, I assumed it was a scam. A very elaborate and highly targeted scam. I asked them to please email me from an an official Canterbury account, and they dutifully sent me the whole order of service. IT WAS NOT A SCAM. It’s a wild honor, to say the least. I’ll share the recording when it’s up.

-We went down to Tacoma last weekend, and this view restored my soul. Bless.

-Look at this picture of me that my son drew at school! Shoutout to Shannon and her wonderful book!

Waiting, watching, and hoping with you,
Cameron