Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Annie Dillard, Thomas Merton, C. S. Lewis, Henri J. M. Nouwen

Overview

This collection, born of obvious passion and graced with superb writing, is a welcome even necessary addition to the glutted holiday bookshelves. — Publishers Weekly  (starred review)

Though Christians the world over make yearly preparations for Lent, there’s a conspicuous lack of good books for that other great spiritual season: Advent. All the same, this four-week period leading up to Christmas is making a comeback as growing numbers reject shopping-mall frenzy and examine the deeper meaning of the season.

Ecumenical in scope, these fifty devotions invite the reader to contemplate the great themes of Christmas and the significance that the coming of Jesus has for each of us – not only during Advent, but every day. Whether dipped into at leisure or used on a daily basis, Watch for the Light gives the phrase “holiday preparations” new depth and meaning.

Includes contributions by these and other writers:

• C. S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, Thomas Merton, and Philip Yancey
• Dorothy Day, Henri Nouwen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Oscar Romero, and Edith Stein
• Martin Luther, Meister Eckhart, Eberhard Arnold, and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
• T. S. Eliot, John Donne, and Sylvia Plath
• Karl Barth, Will Willimon, Jürgen Moltmann, and J. B. Phillips
• Kathleen Norris, Brennan Manning, and Evelyn Underhill
• Annie Dillard, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Gerard Manley Hopkins
• Romano Guardini, St. John Chrysostom, and Giovanni Papini
• Jane Kenyon, Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster, Isaac Penington, and Alfred Delp

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874869170
Publisher:	Plough Publishing House, The
Publication date:	09/22/2014
Pages:	344
Sales rank:	159,604
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.25(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt: Action in Waiting

Sylvia Plath: Black Rook in Rainy Weather

J. B. Phillips: The Dangers of Advent

Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster: Meditation

Henri Nouwen: Waiting for God

Bernard of Clairvaux: In Defense of Humility

Kathleen Norris: Annunciation

Meister Eckhart: Where God Enters

St. Thomas Aquinas / Karl Rahner: The Divine Dawning

Isaac Penington: Concerning the Light

Madeleine L'Engle: A Sky Full of Children

Alfred Delp: The Shaking Reality of Advent

Loretta Ross-Gotta: To be Virgin

William Stringfellow: The Penitential Season

J. Heinrich Arnold / Edith Stein: From the Stable to the Cross

Philip Britts: Yielding to God

Jane Kenyon: Mosaic of the Nativity

John Howard Yoder: The Original Revolution

Emmy Arnold: Christmas Joy

Karl Barth: To Believe

Óscar Romero / William Willimon: The God We Hardly Knew

Johann Christoph Arnold: Be Not Afraid

Gail Godwin: Genealogy and Grace

Leonardo Boff: The Man Who Is God

Gerard Manley Hopkins / Evelyn Underhill: The Light of the World

Dorothy Day: Room for Christ

Brennan Manning: Shipwrecked at the Stable

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Coming of Jesus in Our Midst

Romano Guardini: The Holy Mother

Annie Dillard: Bethlehem

Martin Luther: To You Christ is Born

St. John Chrysostom: The Mystery

Giovanni Papini: Ox and Ass

Dorothee Soelle: The Christmas Gospel

C. S. Lewis: The Grand Miracle

Gustavo Gutiérrez: Christ's History, and Ours

Philip Yancey: The Visited Planet

Jane Tyson Clement / Thomas Merton: The Time of No Room

Eberhard Arnold: When the Time Was Fulfilled

Søren Kierkegaard: Only a Rumor

Ernesto Cardinal: The Wise Men

T. S. Eliot: The Journey of the Magi

John Donne: The Showing Forth of Christ

Gian Carlo Menotti: Love Alone

Jürgen Moltmann: The Disarming Child

Editorial Reviews

This stunning collection of some of the best spiritual writers of all time comes from Plough, the exceptionally thoughtful, high-quality publishing house founded by a simple-living community. What a delight to have seasonal readings from theological voices like Jürgen Moltmann, mystics like Bernard of Clairvaux, poets — from Sylvia Plath to T.S. Eliot to Jane Kenyon — contemplatives such as Henri Nouwen, and storytelling writers like the late Brennan Manning.

Hearts and Minds Books

It's hard to go wrong with 40 essays and poems from theological writers such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Madeleine L'Engle, Martin Luther, Kathleen Norris, Henri Nouwen, Philip Yancey, Karl Barth and Smren Kierkegaard. These are not frivolous, feel-good Advent readings; they are deep, sometimes jarring reflections, many with a strong orientation toward social justice (other authors include liberationists Leonardo Boff, Gustavo Guti rrez and Oscar Romero). "The love that descended to Bethlehem is not the easy sympathy of an avuncular God, but a burning fire whose light chases away every shadow, floods every corner, and turns midnight into noon," explain the editors. This collection, born of obvious passion and graced with superb writing, is a welcome even necessary addition to the glutted holiday bookshelves. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly