Welcome to your gentle holiday rhythm.
Welcome to your gentle holiday rhythm.
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Advent is our invitation to rest in the already-not yet anticipation of the God incarnate, who will one day right all the wrongs of the world.
And yet he already came, 2,000 years ago, as a helpless baby.
Already, not yet. We live in the middle, where we’re invited to wait with hope.
Shadow and Light: A Journey Into Advent
…is your simple, open-and-go ecumenical guide to lead you through the darkness and daybreak of the Advent season, reading the Psalms as your prayer book.
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“In Advent we walk a tightrope, taut (and fraught) with the tension of living between the times — between the ‘already’ of the first Advent of God and the ‘not yet’ of its completion. … Advent asks us to see and speak truthfully, to reckon honestly with our troubled times. We make the journey a bit like travelers on an unknown road, but not as those without hope. For in the fullness of time the desert will bloom and rejoice, our weeping will turn to joy, and all flesh, we pray with fervent Advent longing, shall see it together.”
– Debra Dean Murphy
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What is Advent?
The word ‘Advent’ comes from the Latin word ‘adventus,’ which means coming, or visit.
It’s the season of preparation before Christmas, when the global Church recognizes the time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus and the eventual time when Christ will, one day, make all things new.
When is Advent?
In 2020, Advent starts on November 29 and ends on December 24.
It always begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, so the specific dates change from year to year.
Shadow & Light Resources
Reference each day’s reading for your recommended music and art, listed below.
Music Playlist
Week 1 Art
- Day 1: When Dark Gives Way to Light (2018), by Meena Matocha
- Day 2: Jesus Hears Mary’s Song (2018), by Mike Moyers
- Day 3: Christ of the Breadlines (1930s), by Fritz Eichenberg
- Day 4: The Shepherds Went to See the Baby (1998), Dinah Roe Kendall
- Day 5: The Anunciation (1616), by Jacques Bellange
- Day 6: José y Maria (2014), by Everett Patterson
- Day 7: Mary and Joseph Look with Faith on the Child Jesus at his Nativity (1995), by Elizabeth Wang
Week 2 Art
- Day 1: The Birth of Christ (1405) by Andrei Rublev
- Day 2: Winter Landscape (early twentieth century) by Konstantin Korovin
- Day 3: Nativity (1998) by Hiroshi Tabata
- Day 4: The Nativity of Christ (2006) by Alyona Knyazeva
- Day 5: Christmas Scene (twentieth century) by Kim Heung Jong
- Day 6: Guatemalan Nativity (1990s) by John Giuliani
- Day 7: Nativity (1980s) by P. Solomon Raj, Christ Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy (1590-1622) by Boetius Adams Bolswert
- St. Nick: St. Nicholas Giving Alms (1685) by Jan Heinsch
- St. Lucia: St. Lucia (2006) by Richard Kittel
Week 3 Art
- Day 1: Adoration of the Shepherds (1622) by Gerard van Honthorst
- Day 2: The Birth of Christ (1896) by Paul Gauguin
- Day 3: God Is with Us (2006) by Hanna Varghese
- Day 4: The Nativity (1891) by Gari Melchers
- Day 5: The Starry Night (1889) by Vincent van Gogh
- Day 6: Nativity (twentieth century) by Angelo da Fonseca; Unto Us a Child is Born (1998) by Hanna Varghese
- Day 7: The Christ Window (1970) at Fraumünster Church in Zurich, by Marc Chagall
Week 4 Art
- Day 1: The Birth of Jesus Christ (1952–1953) by Woonbo Kim Ki-chang
- Day 2: The Annunciation of the Angel to Zacharias (1486–1490) by Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Day 3: The Annunciation (2000) by John Collier
- Day 4: Mary and Eve (2003) by Grace Remington
- Day 5: Nativity (2002) by Sawai Chinnawong
- Day 6: Nativity (2006) by Brian Kershisnik
- Day 7: Nativity (2001) by Joseph Mulamba-Mandangi
- Christmas Day: Adoration of the Shepherds (1644) by Georges de La Tour
In The News
- Your Morning Basket Podcast: Why Advent? A Conversation with Tsh Oxenreider
- Wild + Free Podcast: Slowing Down and Savoring the Season
- The Lazy Genius Podcast: Lazy Geniusing Advent with Tsh Oxenreider
- Velvet Ashes: How to Actually Practice Advent {Plus an Invitation!}
- Don’t Mom Alone Podcast: Celebrating Advent
- The Do Gooders Podcast: Episode 69 – A Simple Approach to a Meaningful Advent with Tsh Oxenreider
- Jesuitical: Why We Need Advent More Than Ever, Ep. 160
- America Magazine: 2020 Felt Like a Yearlong Advent
- Sacred Ordinary Days Podcast: Ep. 02 – On Journeying: Travel, Traditions, and Turning to the Psalms
- The Next Right Thing Podcast: Keep Advent Simple (with Tsh Oxenreider)
- Fountains of Carrots Podcast: Intentional Living in Times of Chaos with Tsh Oxenreider
- The Habit Podcast: Episode 47 – Tsh Oxenreider
- The Homeschool Sisters Podcast: Advent – A Slow Walk to Something Good
- Better Sects: Episode 009 – Tsh Oxenreider
- Speaking with Joy: Shadow and Light
- A reader-curated playlist by Jeremy M. Verillo
- That Sounds Fun Podcast: 2020 Christmas Party Episode 2 – Tsh Oxenreider
About the Author
Tsh Oxenreider is the bestselling author of several books, most notably At Home in the World, her travel memoir about her family’s year traveling around the world and living out of backpacks. She’s also a top-ranked podcaster, teacher, and travel guide, and lives in Georgetown, Texas with her husband and three children. She is equally happy putzing around her backyard, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef with her family, and standing in a chilly line in New York City for cheap Broadway tickets with her teenage daughter.
Connect with Tsh regularly through her fairly fantastic newsletter, Books & Crannies.
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