5 Quick Things #309 🕯
advent, anxiety, reading, & intelligent stupidity
Happy Advent Eve Eve1! I can hardly believe it’s time (required phrase about everything this time of year), but in some ways, it sorta feels like —finally, it’s Advent. It’s later this year, which means it’s also shorter (since Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, making it also the fourth Sunday of Advent, with no rest-of-the-week Advent days).
Advent is good for us because we NEED the festive discomfort of anticipation. It makes that which we’re waiting for more special, it forces us to slow down and dig into the virtue of patience, and it gives us room to treat that which we’re waiting for with the correct respect and reverence. We are finite creatures living in physical bodies, yet we live “in a glass darkly” with a longing for eternity. Time is both linear and cyclical—2023 is almost over and a brand-new year is rapidly approaching; likewise, it’ll be winter again in a few weeks, just like it’s shown up again and again for millennia—and we need to remember this. We humans grow, change, and learn in seasons. Advent helps us with this.
As a season of anticipatory preparation, here are a few quick thoughts on how to take a more inward posture this season (as I’ll unpack more in tomorrow’s webinar):
Practice intentional denial: Advent is sometimes thought of as a “mini-Lent”, so embrace that a bit. Forego a typical Christmas delight for a few weeks (sugar or festive music at home comes to mind), or forego needless personal spending.
Quietly serve: Volunteer at an event or local ministry, add a little extra to your tips when you dine out, or serve treats to those who serve in your community—the police and fire departments come to mind. Don’t publicly announce you’re doing any of these.
Stay quiet: Avoid heated discussions, or my particular conviction—don’t be an Advent purist and keep quiet about the outward displays of Christmas “too early.” Recite a short mental prayer and let things go.
Read something: Make it daily and formational, whether that’s Shadow & Light or some other devotional.
Ultimately, embrace the festive discomfort of anticipation that comes with Advent, and let it have its work on you. It’ll make your season of Christmastide all the more special.
5 Quick Things ☕️
1. I’m sharing part of my Advent “onboarding” story over at Hearth & Field today. I didn’t grow up recognizing Advent as anything but a countdown to Christmas, so I’m grateful for the gift of true preparation that it is.
2. Earlier this week I shared with Commonplace subscribers a quick list of six books I’m reading for Advent, in case you’re looking for any good gems, both fiction and non. I just made it free to the public—what’s your reading plan this season?
3. A fantastic episode about how we can turn anxiety into a strength (I promise it’s not just for men)—it’s not what you think. Why has the prevalence of anxiety risen while the reasons to feel anxious have fallen? This chat gets into how the perception of anxiety actually makes anxiety more of a problem, and how to turn anxiety into something that could actually be used for your greater good.
4. What’s the difference between an intellectual failing and a moral failing? Can you be virtuous yet dumb? Can you be intelligent yet evil? And where does ‘stupidity’ fall?
has interesting insight with this, in particular what Dietrich Bonhoeffer had to say. He’s a good one to ask, seeing as he was surrounded by plenty of fellow German intellectuals who chose the side of Nazis.5. And finally,
encourages us to make a plan for our 2024 literary life. I love this idea (and have already used her handy doc to start my plan).
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻
The Shadow & Light playlist (of course!)
Quotable 💬
“You mustn’t wish for another life. You mustn’t want to be somebody else. What you must do is this: ‘Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks.’ I am not all the way capable of so much, but those are the right instructions.”
-Wendell Berry
When is holiday music “allowed”? 🎶
We have some VERY strong opinions on this topic in our household. Usually I’m Team First Day of Advent, but because Advent starts so late this year (and Thanksgiving was on the early side), I queued up my playlists the Friday after Thanksgiving. HOWEVER, I’ve only been playing Advent-specific music, and quiet background types at that. I’m not an animal.
The day after Thanksgiving: 56.6%
December 1: 15%
The first day of Advent: 14.6%
Autumn: 8.2%
Year-round: 4.1%
Christmas Eve: 1.5%
Find this week’s poll here.
Order your copy of Shadow & Light — it’s not too late! Yes, Advent begins this Sunday, December 3, but just begin reading when you’re ready. Advent is for everybody.
Quick Links 🔗
Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔
Who could you go out of your way to encourage this holiday season?
Have a great weekend,
- Tsh
p.s. So ridiculously beautiful.
Just go with me here.
Oh my gosh. I am the 1.5%.
We save Christmas music and cookies until Christmas Eve. (I mean, we'll still go caroling with friends or something or eat cookies at a party! But just in our home.) We do listen to a lot of Advent music before then!
We have a really beloved tradition of starting Christmas with Christmas Eve dinner, after which we transform all the purple in the house into red, green, and gold and then sit by the tree and the fire, eating cookies and fudge and, after reading the Gospel aloud, singing Christmas carols for the first time that year! This is my kids' favorite day of the year (even beats Christmas Day!).
I knew this was a bit uncommon, but didn't realize HOW unusual we are in terms of the music, at least!
Our only kiddo, Lillian, who's about to turn 19, was a winter solstice baby, and so she has always associated Christmas music with happiness and fun (Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Bublé, and Harry Connick Jr. have always been her favorites). So, while I might like to put things off until Advent has concluded, it's kind if difficult when Christmas music is played all 12 months of the year at our house. :-)