Presbyterian Outlook's Page Turners - Advent resources and rituals 📚

Advent resources and rituals Dear Outlook Readers,   I once served a church that selected its Advent theme the first week in December … and I’ve also worked with colleagues who complained anxiously when the theme wasn’t chosen by Labor Day! We all know Advent is coming, yet it can be difficult to find time to prepare for a season that is, ironically, about preparation.   So this month, I’m sharing a new book about rituals — the ways that we consciously (and often unconsciously) make meaning of our lives. You’ll also find links to reviews of Advent devotionals, making it easier for you to choose the “just right” resource for yourself or your church from among many new publications and standouts from prior years.    I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the Outlook’s Advent offering, written by my colleague Teri McDowell Ott: Apocalyptic Advent: Embracing Hope in the Second Coming of Christ. I preach in several local churches, and frequently see Outlook devotionals for Advent or Lent peeking out from bulletins; I’m always gratified to hear from folks who resonate with Teri’s writing, and I think you will find inspiration and hope in this year’s offering. Happy Reading,   Amy Pagliarella Outlook Book Review Editor BOOK OF THE MONTH Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything in Between Amy F. Davis Abdallah Brazos Press, 224 pages Published September 26, 2023 While pastoring with children, I loved to witness how the Advent season drew out their innate sense of wonder, making them eager to light candles, experience silence and “try on” new rituals in church and at home. It’s a perfect time to pick up Meaning in the Moment, professor Amy Davis Abdallah’s exploration of how rituals nurture our souls, deepening relationships with God and one another.   Davis Abdallah beautifully explores natural life cycles, suggesting words and practices that speak to each season. I loved her discussion of beginnings, ends and middles — while rituals for commissioning or graduation are fairly intuitive, how do we create meaning in “liminal” times, such as COVID lockdowns or painful periods of infertility? Discussions of each situation are accompanied by meaningful words a small group could share, followed by numerous examples such as coming-of-age ceremonies, house blessings, letting go/taking on, and more. With so many creative rituals, I imagined ways to go deeper into existing “milestone” rituals (such as baptism or confirmation) and create new Christian rituals in church or at home. QUOTE OF THE MONTH The author gathered with refugees in Amman, displaced from Iraq by ISIS violence. She encountered a group of refugees who shared the hometown of Qaraqosh.   “(Meena said), ‘There were seven different Catholic churches in our city, and we were all members of different choirs. But when we arrived here, we found one another. We thought we had lost everything. But then we understood that we could at least still save a church choir.’…   With their liturgical books destroyed, (cell phones) had become their hymnals, and they held the screens in front of them so they could follow the notes.   They sang … For a moment, all of us were transported to that city whose song had been saved at the end of the world.” What We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry Stephanie Saldaña Broadleaf Books, 280 pages Published September 12, 2023 Book Giveaway!  Congratulations to last month’s winner Mally Baum. Thanks to our generous partners at Algonquin Books she received a copy of Ross Gay’s The Book of (More) Delights.   Our good friends at Broadleaf are offering a copy of the October book of the month What We Remember Will Be Saved to a fortunate reader.   If you're reading this note, then you're all set! Know someone else who should be reading Page Turners? Send them this link and they'll get entered for a chance to win, too. The contest closes on November 22.   OTHER READS The First Advent in Palestine: Reversals, Resistance, and the Ongoing Complexity of Hope by Kelley Nikondeha, reviewed by Noushin Darya Framke Advent in Plain Sight by Jill Duffield, reviewed by Beth Waltemath  Holy Disruption: Discovering Advent in the Gospel of Mark by Tracy S. Daub, reviewed by Amy Pagliarella Apocalyptic Advent: Embracing Hope in the Second Coming of Christ by Teri McDowell Ott