The
following were within the Church Times suggestions for Advent, the
first two I in fact started in early November – I seem to have been
keeping a long Advent this year...
The
One True Light by Tim Chester
These
reflections on the opening of John's Gospel started strong, but as we
moved through the verses from the mystical beginnings to focus more
and more on the person of Jesus I became less interested – which as
a preparation for the celebration of Christmas is a bit of a shame.
Within
the message I was particularly drawn to Tim's words that “We cannot
know God fully. But we can know him truly...” But having said this
on day 3 I think it was difficult to maintain the momentum of that
thought for the following 20 days.
The
Church Times review commended this book basically saying to was OK
“despite” Tim Chester's evangelical background, but I think as
the days went on part of the problem was the feeling that it was
becoming less the offering of a meditation and more the experience of
being preached “at”. This is not a criticism of preaching in
general, just that was not what I was looking for.
The
Word was God by Andy John
Another
set of reflections on John, but here while each day was given four
pages, each page had only one sentence of text. The skill of the
author being as much in the white space as the words.
The
book was a structure in which you were able to pause – to create
some “space” in a busy day, and in a busy mind.
Some
of these gave me strong resonances, while others I found myself
glossing over – I am sure you would find the same, but your sets
would be different. There were some days when I think I needed a bit
more “meat” for my brain to engage, but there were definitely
plenty of other days when I was very grateful for the permission for
my brain to idle for a little while.
Waiting
on the Word, an anthology selected by Malcom Guite
Guite
selects and explores a poem a day (some of his own composition) for
Advent, Christmas, and the feast of the Epiphany. He selects widely,
stalwarts of the English canon such as Herbert and Donne rub
shoulders with contemporary poets.
As
well as a poem a day there is Guite's explanation of its selection
and exploration of its meaning. I am often a little nervous of
having poems explained to me – as I feel the same rule applies as
with jokes (I.e. "Humour can be dissected, as a frog can,
but the thing dies...”
E. B. White).
However,
in most cases, the encounter with the poem was enriched by the
insights Guite offered – either into the context in which the poet
was writing or the connections he made between poems (both those in
the anthology and those beyond it).
I
guess the recommendation comes that I have added his Lenten anthology
to my wishlist...
Barefoot
Ways by Stephen Cherry
Cherry
takes us on past the feast of Epiphany through until Candlemas (on
2nd
Feb) although the range of topics covered during January did not seem
to have any particular link to the season of “Epiphany”.
Cherry's
daily offering of a poem/prayer/psalm created a strong collection,
they are rich with ideas and phrases which you can continue to dwell
with and explore throughout the day. The mix of ancient rhythms and
modern cues often brought to mind the writings of Jim Cotter.
I
was looking through the book trying to decide on a good example to
share here and could well of found myself copying out half the book
so many called to be shared, but in the end I settle on 13th
December, feast of St Lucy,
one of those early Roman martyr's who the church has wrapped and
sanitised in the cloak of their virginity, whereas we should perhaps
recognise their spark as they refused to listen the men who thought
they should have power over them.
Lucia
Wreathed
in darkness as
dank
as a slow death,
your
wick burns brightly,
fuelled
by faith.
Martyr
and victim,
child
– determined beyond adult imagination,
simply
stubborn for God.
Inspire
us to see what
you
saw:
the
light in the darkness of
history's
deepest well.
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