Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas

Rating:
Summary: I wonder as I wander...
Review: I wonder as I wander through the pages of this book, how it is that the editors came to choose at least three selections I'd previously read, and having once read, returned to for spiritual nourishment. I felt as if this book had been compiled for me. Gail Godwin's essay on genealogy and grace moved me so much at the time I first read it in one of her novels, that I found myself going back to it over again. Kathleen Norris's writing on The Annunciation compels one to ponder the incomprehensible and embrace the mystery of the holiness of the season. Annie Dillard's description of the Church of the Nativity is rich in detail and provokes consideration of today's Bethlehem. These three readings could fill a season of wonder, but there are enough to cover the time from November 24th to January 7th. From Sylvia Plath to St. Thomas Aquinas, there is enough diversity to please a wide range of preferences. This reader considers it somewhat of a miracle itself that so much could be packed into such a small volume. For readers and thinkers yearning to see beyond the seasonal excesses, I recommend you "Watch for the Light."

Rating:
Summary: Best collection of readings for Advent and Christmas ever.
Review: If you are looking for a great read for Christmas this is it. You can call the Publisher and they will work out a great price if you want to give this book away for Christmas presents. You might also want to look at there book " Bread And Wine Readings for Lent and Easter. These two books are the greatest books to be published on these two themes.

Rating:
Summary: The Real Thing
Review: Most books of readings arranged like these are full of platitudes and clichés. Not this one. These readings were very carefully selected from very thoughtful writers. They stir one to reflect on the true spiritual meaning of Advent and Christmas - what it means to live in Advent time, in a troubled world in anticipation of the light of God's presence, which both comforts us and shakes us to our core. This book recaptures the spiritual meaning of the season that often gets lost in all the celebration and commercialization. It offers both solace and challenge - a sign of the best spiritual writing.

Rating:
Summary: The Real Thing
Review: Most books of readings arranged like these are full of platitudes and clichés. Not this one. These readings were very carefully selected from very thoughtful writers. They stir one to reflect on the true spiritual meaning of Advent and Christmas - what it means to live in Advent time, in a troubled world in anticipation of the light of God's presence, which both comforts us and shakes us to our core. This book recaptures the spiritual meaning of the season that often gets lost in all the celebration and commercialization. It offers both solace and challenge - a sign of the best spiritual writing.

Rating:
Summary: A library in one volume
Review: This extraordinarily rich collection of writings, mostly excerpted from larger works, offers stimulating meditations for each day of the Advent and Christmas seasons. The fifty writers include familiar names ranging from Thomas Aquinas to Henri Nouwen, Bernard of Clairvaux to Dorothy Day, John Chrysostom to C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther to Annie Dillard, T. S. Eliot to Kathleen Norris, as well as others less well-known. Nouwen shows how the fear of waiting can lead to hostile "first strike" approaches. Imprisoned, Alfred Delp calls for a "shocked awakening" from our false securities, that our hearts may be open to God's words of promise. Oscar Romero reminds us "Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God." This is a veritable library in one small volume.