What We're Reading: Madeleine L'Engle on Advent

Madeleine L'Engle, besides being a brilliant writer of fantasy, was a woman who knew a thing or three about Advent. I've again been reading the collection of her writings (fiction, poetry, and meditations) on Advent and Christmas: Miracle on 10th Street and Other Christmas Writings, and am again struck by how profound she was.

Some highlights:

"As we move into Advent we are called to listen, something we seldom take time to do in this frenetic world of over-activity. But waiting for birth, waiting for death--these are listening times, when the normal distractions of life have lost their power to take us away from God's call to center in Christ."

"Advent is not a time to declare, but to listen, to listen to whatever God may want to tell us through the singing of the stars, the quickening of a baby, the gallantry of a dying man."

"Advent. That time of waiting even more trembling and terrible than the waiting between Good Friday and Easter Sunday."

"Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come
In your fearful innocence.
We fumble in the far-spent night
Far from lovers, friends, and home:
Come in your naked, newborn might.
Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come;
My heart withers in your absence."

(That last is from an incredible poem/hymn called "Forever's Start," printed in her journal The Irrational Season .)

With the girls, I've been reading aloud The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas, which is a rare gem in the world of kidlit, as it is actually a book about a family celebrating the season of Advent, singing Advent carols, and spending time together as a family as they prepare for Christmas as well as the birth of their newest sibling. We're loving it. If you're looking for a great longer-than-a-picture-book but shorter-than-a-novel book to read with your 5-to-10-year-olds, this would be perfect.

(Note: I'm an Amazon affiliate, so if you purchase any of these books by clicking through the image-links, I get a small percentage of the sale.)