Advent and Christmas Recommendations, (Books, Music, and E-Courses)

Here are some things you might not know about Christmas and Advent:

• Advent means ‘coming’. We tend to think of Advent as preparing for Christmas (ie preparing for remembering Jesus’ first coming), but traditionally the focus was on preparing our hearts for Jesus’ second coming.

• Advent is a penitential season (like Lent). Traditionally, this was a time of fasting and prayer before the feasting of Christmas.

• Christmas only starts on December 25th, and runs for two weeks afterwards. Some of my more traditional Anglican friends think it very improper to sing Christmas carols in Advent, insisting that the right time to sing them is for two weeks after the 25th December.

Here are some ways you can mark Advent and prepare thoughtfully for Christmas:

Advent E-Course: Coming Home

At the moment, I am slightly in denial that Christmas is coming. This is one of those times when it is quite nice to be housebound, so I am not bombarded by gaudy plastic Santas and cheap tat promising to be the perfect gift. I am feeling a yearning to sit quietly amidst all the rush of advent glitter and jingly songs.
For this reason, I’m going to take an Advent e-course, run by my dear friend Tara Owens, that is an online retreat/journey/pilgrimage from Advent to Epiphany (Dec 1 – Jan 6). I want to approach Christmas this year in a mindset of spiritual reflection rather than a frenzy of commercialism, and her course is the perfect way to do this, with daily readings from Scripture, thought-provoking questions and creative exercises, and weekly conference Skype calls for a chance to have a more directed time of prayer and reflection.

Tara Owens is an amazing spiritual director and a writer who excels both creatively and theologically. I am honoured to call her my friend. She always helps me to look at the Bible with fresh insight, and she has a knack for asking just the right questions to get at the heart issues. She has a gentle spirit, and has her roots firmly in the Scriptures and in the most helpful traditions of the ancient church.

I love the thought of preparing spiritually for Christmas, but I know that I need to do it in community, otherwise it won’t happen.  

I’d love it if you would join me in this! It’ll be fun! If you sign up before Friday 15th November you get a $25 discount. Check out the details here.
BOOKS:

• Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas – John Blase. I read this last year for Advent, and for me it really did recapture the awe of that first Christmas. It is a retelling of Luke 1-2, by John Blase, poet and blogger, (who has guest-posted here earlier this year). It has 12 sections, each starting with a Bible reading from Eugene Peterson’s The Message, then telling the story creatively from a particular person’s point of view (e.g. Elizabeth, Mary etc), and ending with a handwritten prayer or reflection. The result is something remarkable, and he really helped me to see afresh a story that can become tired upon repetition, making the characters seem very contemporary. He is such a gifted writer that these short meditations have stayed with me, even a year on, and reading it really did feel like the wonder of Christmas was made more tangible.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
  

• The Meaning is In the Waiting: the Spirit of Advent – Paula Gooder. I love this Advent book. This follows the themes of waiting in Scripture, and is designed as an advent reflection book. Paula is one of my favourite biblical scholars, and there is so much meat in this book. It is a book that I will want to read and re-read.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
  

• Real God in the Real World: Advent and Christmas readings on the Coming of Christ – Trystan Owain Hughes. I haven’t read this book, but I loved the previous book written by him on Compassion (reviewed here) so it is well worth checking out.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk (not yet on Amazon.com).
  

MUSIC:

I love listening to Christmas music in all December. (This is a bit of a Thing with me: in December I only listen to Christmas music.) These are some of my favourites:

Traditional Carols:

• Carols from King’s College, Cambridge – these are the classic recordings of beautifully-sung choral arrangements by the choral scholars at Cambridge University. And so cheap. Can’t argue with that.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

• Essential Carols from Kings College, Cambridge – More beautifully-sung choral arrangements. This is a double CD, and has some great and less familiar carols.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

• Merry Christmas – Vienna Boys Choir – If you would like carols, but feel like a European twist, this is an enchating album. The sound is sweet – which is not to say ‘cute’, but ‘delicious’, and there is a mixture of German and English classic carols. One of my favourites.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Classical:

• Christmas with the Tallis Scholars – This is two CDs – the second sounds like traditional Latin monk chanting, and can be useful for meditation or relaxation, the first is a lovely collection of haunting traditional and early carols and motets, sung unaccompanied by a small choir. It is best heard accompanied by a roaring fire, to feel the primal power of those haunting chants and wandering harmonies. I love this period of music, and used to sing in a madrigal choir, so this is special to me.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

• Handel’s Messiah – there’s nothing like having the Hallelujah chorus on full blast in the car to make you feel uplifted and excited for Christmas.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

• Bach – Christmas Oratorio – this is similar in style to Handel, and a great alternative if you’re all Handel-ed out. This recording by Harnancourt is a great one (sung in German).
  See it on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
  

• In Terra Pax (City of London Choir) – This is a lovely collection of more unusual Christmas music – British composers mainly from the 20th Century (Holst, Vaughan williams, Rutter) etc. This is a big choir with an orchestra, so it has a rich and full sound, and the soloists were all good. If you like your advent music to have a twinge of discordance, even while the lyrics proclaim the comfort of Christmas, this is the one for you.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.
  

Other:

• Sweet Bells – Kate Rusby. Kate Rusby is an incredibly talented English folk singer, and this is full of good English cheer and wassailing. Her voice is just captivating, and her arrangements of these traditional folk songs and carols are fabulous. It’s a really cosy album. She has another Christmas album, While Mortals Sleep, which is also excellent, but Sweet Bells is probably the one to get if you just get one.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

• Michael Buble’s Christmas album – I love to have this on while decorating the tree, and hum ‘it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’.
  See it on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
  

• Christmas in DiverseCity – Toby Mac – Apparently this dude used to be in DCTalk. I’m not sure how you’d describe this music – electro pop? (I feel old). This has a great, upbeat, contemporary twist on traditional Christmas Carols, and some great collaborations, including Owl City, whilst still feeling worshipful. See it on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Enjoy!
P.S. I saw my ME specialist last week. He’s referring me to a different doctor to investigate my autonomic dysfunction (think that’s the right word…) and possible heart issues. It’s a good direction to be going in, and I’m thankful. Thanks for praying.
P.P.S. I haven’t forgotten about my 1 Peter fiction series- hoping to finish it before December!

I’m linking up with Tara Owens’ Christmas synchroblog – check out the other posts, and consider signing up for her Coming Home e-course.