All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings
By Gayle Boss and David G. Klein
()
About this ebook
Open a window each day of Advent onto the natural world. Here are twenty-five fresh images of the foundational truth that lies beneath and within the Christ story. In twenty-five portraits depicting how wild animals of the northern hemisphere ingeniously adapt when darkness and cold descend, we see and hear as if for the first time the ancient wisdom of Advent: The dark is not an end but the way a new beginning comes.
Short, daily reflections that paint vivid, poetic images of familiar animals, paired with charming original wood-cuts, will engage both children and adults. Anyone who does not want to be caught, again, in the consumer hype of "the holiday season" but rather to be taken up into the eternal truth the natural world reveals will welcome this book.
An ECPA 2023 Christmas Bestseller.
Learn more about All Creation Waits and find free resources at AllCreationWaits.com
Gayle Boss
Gayle Boss writes from West Michigan, where she was born and raised. Her lifelong love of animals and her immersion in spiritual texts and practices have melded in poems and essays that explore how relationships with animals specifically, and an attentive presence in the natural world generally, restore us to our deepest selves. Also the author of Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing, Gayle lives with her husband and Welsh corgi rescue.
Read more from Gayle Boss
All Creation Waits — Gift Edition: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings (An illustrated Advent devotional with 25 woodcut animal portraits) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Creation Waits — Children's Edition: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings for Children Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to All Creation Waits
Related ebooks
Holiday Wishes - A Compilation of Short Stories, Essays, Poetry, and Memories: Sutton Writing Group Compilations, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIncarnation: Daily Poems for Advent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For A More Joyful Christmas Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: A Countdown to Christmas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Season of the Nativity: Confessions and Practices of an Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Extremist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Soul Felt Its Worth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not Yet Christmas: It's Time for Advent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTHE FEAST OF ST. FRIEND - Study on the Meaning of Christmas & Holiday Spirit: A Christmas Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grinch Stole More Than Christmas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDestination Bethlehem: Daily Meditations, Prayers, and Poems to Light the Way to the Manger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy This Jubilee?: Advent Reflections on Songs of the Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSlowing Time: Seeing the Sacred Outside Your Kitchen Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Over the River and Through the Woods Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWindows on a Hidden World: Exploring the Advent landscape Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Radiant Birth: Advent Readings for a Bright Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKrampus and Friends: Tales of Terrifying Christmas Monsters From Around the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiturgical Entanglements Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Feast of St. Friend Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReimagining Christmas: Discoveries of a Christmas Self Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings25 Days, 26 Ways to Make This Your Best Christmas Ever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blue Christmas: Devotions of Light in a Season of Darkness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kneeling in Bethlehem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadowlands and Songs of Light: An Epic Journey Into Joy and Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Daffodils in Winter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCacophony of Bone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Earth Is Waiting [Large Print]: Good News for God's Creation at Advent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeaven and Nature Sing: 25 Advent Reflections to Bring Joy to the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Christianity For You
Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NIV, Holy Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for All Creation Waits
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
All Creation Waits - Gayle Boss
All Creation Waits
The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings
2016 First Printing
All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings
Text copyright © 2016 by Gayle Boss
Illustrations copyright © 2016 by David G. Klein
ISBN 978-1-61261-785-5
The Paraclete Press name and logo (dove on cross) are trademarks of Paraclete Press, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Boss, Gayle, author.
Title: All creation waits : the Advent mystery of new beginnings / Gayle Boss
; illustrated by David G. Klein.
Description: Brewster MA : Paraclete Press Inc., 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016026453 | ISBN 9781612617855 (trade paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Advent--Meditations. | Creation--Meditations.
Classification: LCC BV40 .B675 2016 | DDC 242/.33--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016026453
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published by Paraclete Press
Brewster, Massachusetts
www.paracletepress.com
Printed in the United States of America
For Doug, and Kai and Cotter
my grace heaped upon grace
and for Cheryl
godmother and soul friend
CONTENTS
Introduction
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God.
Every creature is a word of God. If I spend enough time with
the tiniest creature, even a caterpillar, I would never have to
prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature.
—Meister Eckhart
When our first son was a toddler I wanted to add an Advent calendar to our family’s Advent practices. Before his birth we had already begun to take back late November and December from the holiday season,
doing a few things that, though very simple, startled family and friends. We’d given up colored lights and Christmas decorations for four candles on an Advent wreath, only putting the decorations up, with the tree, on Christmas Eve. We waited until then, too, to sing or play or listen to Christmas carols, keeping quiet except to sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel
each evening around the lit wreath. Now and then someone dared to ask us why our home was so un-Christmasy. More people asked more pointedly after our son was born—as if we were denying him some essential of childhood.
We decided to strip down and step back after I read a few paragraphs in a rather dry tome on the history of Christian liturgy. Those paragraphs worked in me like fingers lining up the cylinders of a lock. I still remember the click when that internal lock popped open.
I learned that the roots of Advent run deep beneath the Christian church—in the earth and its seasons. Late autumn, in the northern hemisphere, brings the end of the growing season. When early agricultural peoples had harvested their crops and stacked food in their larders, they gave a collective sigh of relief. Their long days in the fields were over. For their labor they had heaps of fruits, vegetables, grains, and meat. The group body called out, Feast!
At the same time, no matter how glad the party, they couldn’t keep from glancing at the sky. Their growing season was over because the sun had retreated too far south to keep the crops alive. Each day throughout the fall they watched the light dwindle, felt the warmth weaken. It made them anxious, edgy. Their fires were no substitute for the sun. When they had eaten up the crop they were feasting on, how would another crop grow? Throughout December, as the sun sank and sank to its lowest point on their horizon, they felt the shadow of primal fear—fear for survival—crouching over them. They were feasting, and they were fearful, both. Yes, last year the sun had returned to their sky. But what if, this year, it didn’t? Despite their collective memory, people wedded, bodily, to the earth couldn’t help asking the question.