This Sunday marks the first Sunday of Advent, the season of anticipation that leads up to Christmas. Last year, I wrote a post about why Advent isn’t a season of peace and joy, but one of holy longing.

“People are angry about the injustice in the world, disappointed with circumstances in their own lives, or frustrated with their own busyness. All of this disillusionment seems to center on the idea that this is not how the Christmas season should be. I’ve seen a lot of comments along the lines of, ‘This is supposed to be a season of joy, a season of peace, a season of contentment and closeness to our families, a season of celebration.’

I think we may have gotten it wrong.

I don’t think Advent is primarily about peace and joy and all the other warm and fuzzies we think we’re meant to feel. I think Advent is about longing.

It is about longing for a world that is not broken. Longing for justice for the victims of terrorist attacks and police brutality. Longing for restored relationships with our families. Longing for a world where people cannot be bought and sold as commodities. Longing for comfort for the friend who has lost her child. Longing for rest from a world that is moving so fast we feel like if we pause for a moment we’ll get left behind. It is about longing for the hope that we are not abandoned.

Most of us are very uncomfortable with longing. We live in an instant-gratification world, one where it is unacceptable for a need to go unmet or a wish to go unfulfilled, so when we feel emptiness in ourselves, we rush to fill it. Sometimes the desire to satiate longing manifests itself in materialism – the need for the next new thing. Sometimes it shows up in our relationships and we use and abuse other people in our desire to satisfy our longings.

My own attitude towards longing is usually, ‘How can I make this go away?’ But I think we have two choices when it comes to longing – we can lament the discomfort we feel and try to make the feelings go away, or we can embrace those longings and let them change the way we live and love.”

Last week I had the privilege of reading and reviewing Stephanie Ebert’s short collection of Advent reflections, In the Valley of the Shadow, Light Has Dawned: Advent Thoughts in the Wandering. The collection has 5 short readings for each week leading up to Christmas. All I can say is that Steph gets it. As a South African-American she has spent her life in places broken by racism and in desperate need of social justice.  In the introduction to the book she writes:

“Like all Christian celebrations, Advent is acknowledging darkness and remembering light. It’s celebrating and it’s waiting. It’s sweet, but there’s still a trace of bitterness.”

She goes on to say, “If you’re looking for some feel-good Christmas spirit, I apologize: this is not the book for you. But if you’re wandering, or wondering, or grieving, or hurting, or angry, or confused, or fed-up, or used up, maybe there’s something in here for you.”

Each week has a theme with five short readings (except for the last week, which has only two because, as Steph says, “Nobody has time right before Christmas”).

Week One: The Land Where Death Casts His Shadow
“We’re still living in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but we have a bit of light now.”
Week Two: God With Us: The Incarnation
“God-with-us wasn’t tainted by the common-ness /of skin and flesh and bones./He made skin and flesh and bones holy.”
Week Three: Peace: Wholeness
“But Jesus does everything upside-down. The Kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed, not a machine-gun.”
Week Four: Light Has Shined: Hope in the Face of Darkness
“When we spend our time creating and celebrating the good, we cry out to all the hurt people in the world: This is the way it is supposed to be!”

If you’re looking for a way to acknowledge darkness and still celebrate light, this little book will resonate with you. With discussion questions at the end of each section, it’s a great resource for a small group or a family. But mostly, Steph’s writing is beautiful and her stories and poems and ramblings are worth reflecting on. You can order it here or go over to Steph’s blog for more information about her and her writing.

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Full Disclosure: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I am not under any obligation to review it for you here and have chosen to do so because I genuinely loved it.