You Meet Us at the Gate: Meditations for Advent

Hello everyone!

I’m so glad you found me in my new space! Thank you for making your way over!

I have some exciting news to share! I want to introduce a project for the advent/Christmas season I’ve been working on for the last few months as we near the end of this really difficult year, and what is shaping up to be a very unusual Christmas, to say the least. Historically, advent is a time for us to quiet our hearts in the midst of what can be a really hectic season, to spiritually prepare for and remember what Christmas actually is about: Jesus becoming Emmanuel- God With Us. Personally, this year, I need that reminder more than ever. 

Over the past nine months, I’ve been really aware of the idea of journeying through the wilderness: the flight into the wilderness, what extended time in the wilderness does to our faith, the crazy courage it takes to believe there, and then ultimately how Jesus enters into wilderness with us and walks with us back, or “walks with us gently out of the night” as the poet Rilke says. And I realized, goodness, isn’t that what advent and Christmas is all about? Jesus entering our darkness and walking with us, even if we can’t see him or feel him or hear him? And that eventually, some day, we will be out of the dark and everything will be made new. But we have to start at the beginning of the journey, and for me, that is Christmas. 

So, for advent this year, it felt important to me to write something around the aforementioned theme. Beginning on November 29th and continuing until Christmas Day, I have written a set of daily meditations for advent- the four weeks leading up to Christmas, entitled You Meet Us at the Gate: Meditations for Advent. The general structure of each week is this: a short essay/meditation, original poetry with a recorded reading of a portion of Luke 1, a new testament passage, a psalm, a passage from Isaiah, an original song, and a recording of a Christmas carol, with the opportunity for you, the reader, to meditate on the lyrics.

 If this at all sounds like something you might be interested in, please follow my blog by clicking here, or by filling in your email on the subscribe portion of the home page. This way, you will be sent a daily email with the meditation straight to your inbox each day. Stay tuned for a formal introduction this Friday, November 20th! 

 I hope this is something you might consider taking part in, and something you might want to share with others! If so, please spread the word! The more, the merrier.

I am so thankful for your support, your love, and your encouragement, and I hope to see you soon! 

- alyssa