Advent Resources: Waiting, Longing and Yearning for God Together

“In Advent we are ushered into a time of waiting where we are connected again with our desire, our longing, and our yearning for God.”

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent, where Christians throughout the world are anticipating Jesus’ arrival and contemplating what it means for the God of the universe to be present with us. Katie Oxley, former director of the Young Adults Ministry at the Paulist Center (a Catholic community in downtown Boston) offers these resources and practices for all Christians to ready our hearts for the coming of Christ.

(This article was originally posted in 2018 and has been updated)

With Thanksgiving suddenly behind us, we are launched full-force into the Christmas season. Stores are all playing Christmas music, Starbucks has brought out their red cups, and Christmas Tree lots are popping up on every abandoned roadside corner.

Yet amidst the inevitable hustle and bustle of this time of year (this “getting ready” for Christmas), we often neglect the most important preparation we need to be doing–readying our hearts and lives for the coming of Christ. This is why remembering the season of Advent is important. In Advent we are ushered into a time of waiting where we are connected again with our desire, our longing, and our yearning for God. Joan Chittister, in the book The Liturgical Year, comments: “The year opens with Advent, the season that teaches us to wait for what is beyond the obvious. It trains us to see what is behind the apparent. Advent makes us look for God in all those places we have, until now, ignored.”

Advent is a time when we, too, are invited to sink deeply into ourselves and re-orient ourselves to the world and to God. It is a humble time of recognizing one’s need, and yearning for God’s powerful presence to break into the world.

The waiting we are called to do during Advent is not the busy, numbing, frenetic kind of waiting, but the stilling, germinating kind that connects you deeply with the present and your true self. We await the celebration of the human arrival of Jesus and we anticipate the eventual Second coming of Christ, but more profoundly, we open ourselves up to await the in-breaking of God into our own personal lives and communities here in the present. It is a time to connect with our hope and our desire.

Desire is more than wanting; it is longing, yearning, a deep-seated hope that has the power to burn into being a multitude of things. Theologian Wendy Farley, author of The Wounding and Healing of Desire, wrote, “Desire is the absurdity that holds open the infinity of possibility.” From experience, many of us have learned that desire itself often feels foolish. We are all familiar with the devastation of disappointment and have, in turn, used it to disown, numb, and shrink our desire.

Advent is a season for us to settle down deeply into ourselves–to hear our heart cry, to find that spark of life and hope deep within the darkness of unknowing. Desires unfulfilled. Hope unmet. Longing unsatisfied. It is a time of discernment, of waiting, of being present. It is an active waiting. Because of this, it seems appropriate that in the northern hemisphere, this is the darkest time of year. I’ve heard that that is one of the reasons why the celebration of Christmas was set for end of December. Because in a very real way, it is the Christ child that ushers in the light.

Just as in the Jewish tradition, each day begins at sunset, begins with darkness, so it seems appropriate that the beginning of the church calendar would likewise begin in stillness and the dark, with us facing our deepest fears and desires, cultivating our hope for the light. In the silence and the darkness, we hear our own heart’s cry, our own flame of desire, our own longing for God.

During the season of Advent I invite you to not get caught up in the frenetic chaos of holiday preparation, but do the work of preparing your soul, of reconnecting with yourself and your desire.

Practices

For Waiting:

–Advent Calendar: Whether it’s a common chocolate-filled one from the grocery store, or something you make yourself, have an Advent Calendar is a great way to mark the days of Advent and slow your pace in preparation for Christmas. This daily reminder of the season invites us to show up each day to reveal what lies hidden and trust that there is goodness even in darkness.

–Slow Decorating: Although the stores are already filled with Christmas lights and decorations, consider taking a slower approach in your own home. As tempting as it is to jump right into all the Christmas cheer, carve out space and time for Advent -intentional preparation. Consider waiting to listen to Christmas Music, or decorate your home with Advent decor instead of Christmas lights. One nice practice is to get a tree, but to slowly decorate it -one ornament a day to let to the preparation for Christmas be a slow build. And to remind us of the process of preparing.

-Scripture: (From Park Street Church) How would you define hope? Did you know that the word doesn’t appear in the Bible until Ruth 1:12, when Naomi uses it? After that, it occurs 184 times. Interestingly it is often translated “wait”!
See if these verses help you come up with a definition of hope. Notice how they incorporate both the saving and judging nature of God’s two comings.

Job 13:15-16
Psalm 25:3,6,7
Psalm 42:5
Lamentations 3:19-25
Rom. 5:1-6
1 Thessalonians 1:2, 3
Hebrews 6:17-20
1 Peter 1:13

Also, meditate on (i.e. savor, chew slowly, ponder, repeat, reflect upon) Romans 8:22-25:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

– Reflection: Last, this one page PDF from Leadership Transformations invites you to consider God’s invitation to watch and wait this Advent season. Download it here and spend some slow and spacious time in prayerful reflection.

For Remembering:

-The Jesse Tree: This ancient practice is a great way to prepare for Christmas through Storytelling. A Jesse tree is typically a bunch of bare branches collected in a jar or vase, and then hung with different items or ornaments throughout Advent. Each of these ornaments is a symbol of a particular Bible story or Character. (like an Apple for Adam, or some wheat for Ruth) Each day as you hang the ornament reflect on that story, part of the Genealogy of Christ, and part of our own spiritual ancestry.

–Nativity Scene Journey: Sink into the story of Christ’s birth slowly by allowing your nativity scene to play out the story across your living room. Start with the Angel and Mary for the annunciation, then the journey to Bethlehem. The wise men can be traveling from the bedroom or some other location. Move each set along every few days throughout Advent and until Epiphany (when the Wise Men arrive).

For Preparing:

-Make an Advent Wreath: This is a practice often done in community at your local Parish, but can just as easily be done at home too. One of the best ways to do it is by going on a walk near your home and gathering items to make your own wreath –Fallen greens, berries, pine cones, etc. Once it’s made, set 4 candles (safely) in it and light one each week as you read the Scriptures for the week. Or as a way to intentionally reflect on the 4 markers of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.

-Lectio Divina: Also called “sacred reading” Lectio divina is the process of sitting with a text and allowing God to speak to you through it. This is a great way to come into connection with God and to prepare you heart during the Advent Season. Try doing Lectio Divina during Advent with the O Antiphons or with the verses of O Come O Come Emmanuel.

Feast days/practices

-St. Nicholas -December 6th (Gifts in Stockings and Cookies)

–Immaculate Conception -December 8th (Song of Mary)

-St Lucy’s Day -December 13th (Make a Special Breakfast)

Thoughtful Blog posts, articles, and videos:

Check out the Zeteo Resource Guide for Advent to find links to a number of different Advent series ideas, including worship liturgies, prayer guides, sermons, candle series, and more.

Collection of art and reflections for the 4 weeks of Advent

http://adventdoor.com/

Blogposts, podcasts, and resources

https://www.asacredjourney.net/advent-practices-resources/

Small video description of Advent

http://bustedhalo.com/video/watch-advent-two-minutes

A digital Advent Calendar with new reflections and resources each day

https://advent.bustedhalo.com/

Great collection of resources: videos, reading material, and practices:

http://bustedhalo.com/?s=Advent

Another digital Advent Calendar with new reflections and resources each day

http://grottonetwork.com/advent-calendar/