A dear priest friend once told me that he reads Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison every Advent. Having done so a couple of times, I know why – Bonhoeffer is wonderfully reflective and focused on the meaning of his Christian faith. Advent is a time of waiting, preparing us for encountering God through the birth of Jesus but also anticipating the end times. Bonhoeffer was also waiting for his end, which came shortly before his prison was liberated from the Nazis.
Bonhoeffer’s Life Together is also a good Advent read, a shorter book that I would recommend to anyone who lives in community (Christian, academic, or otherwise). A reviewer says that “it reads like one of Paul’s letters.” One of my favorite quotations from it is “A day at a time is long enough to sustain one’s faith; the next day will have its own cares.” I’d also recommend Margaret Guenther’s The Practice of Prayer, volume four in The New Church’s Teaching Series.
And there’s always the Daily Office as a daily discipline to start the new church year. On Advent 1 Year Two begins (BCP, p. 937). The Gospel reading in Matthew picks up where Year One ended, in chapter 21 with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but ends before Jesus is arrested. I can think of no better way to prepare for Christmas than to spend some time each day with Scripture, even if you choose not to do the rest of the office. As Bonhoeffer says, focus on the day at hand; let tomorrow worry about itself (Matthew 6:34).
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
The online Episcopal News Service had a review of another Advent book which I have not seen. Here's the info and the review:
"Let Every Heart Prepare - Meditations for Advent and Christmas" from Church Publishing, Inc., by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, 90 pages, paperback, c. 1998, $10
[Church Publishing, Inc.] For centuries the words and poetry of our hymns have spoken deeply to us. Many people, in fact, find that what is heard in poetry and music sinks deeper into the soul than does ordinary prose. And so it is to the beautiful seasonal hymns that Barbara Cawthorne Crafton turns for inspiration for daily meditations during the great devotional seasons of the church year: Advent/Christmas, and Lent. "I hope that you find yourself humming familiar tunes to yourself as you read, and that this condition persists for the rest of the day," writes Crafton. Those who have known the hymns forever as well as those who are
new to these verses will find them, and Crafton's meditations on faith, prayer, forgiveness, healing and more, an excellent companion for these important seasons of the year.
Post a Comment