Tuesday, December 5, 2023

By DEBORA RAGLAND BUERK,
Writer. Editor.
Selah Companion.

A Grown-Up Advent Calendar

As a kid, I looked forward to receiving an Advent calendar from my parents each Christmas. It helped mark the days until Christmas, a very exciting time for me as a child. There are many Advent calendars, but they typically have “doors” for each day leading up to Christmas. Each day you open a door to reveal an image, a poem, a portion of a story—such as the story of the Nativity of Jesus—or a small gift—such as a toy or candy. Or, perhaps a Bible verse or Christian prayer can be incorporated as part of daily Advent devotions. But, as a kid, I was after the chocolate! It was nearly as torturous to wait until the next day to open another door for chocolate as it was to wait for Christmas Day.

The First Advent Calendar

German Lutherans used the first Advent calendar in the 19th and 20th centuries. Their use has since spread to other Christian denominations.

Traditional Advent calendars feature the manger scene, Saint Nicholas, or a winter scene, while others range in theme from sports to technology. They come in many forms, from a simple paper calendar with flaps covering each day to fabric pockets on a background scene to painted wooden boxes with cubby  holes for small items. The Advent calendars of my early childhood years were homemade. Later on, different types of calendars were commercially available.

German Lutherans used the first Advent calendar in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Advent calendars aren’t necessarily two-dimensional. Some European villages create Advent calendars on buildings or even “living” Advent calendars, with different windows in a building decorated for each day of Advent.

Favorite Advent Devotionals Books

As an adult, I still look forward to beginning an Advent calendar—although I prefer reading my calendar to eating it these days. I lean toward devotion-based, bound books with a reading for each day, such as Jesus Calling for Christmas and Richard Rohr’s Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent. Some I return to over and over. Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas has become a perennial favorite.

I enjoyed reading my grandmothers’ copies of Christmas Ideals as a girl. If you haven’t guessed, it inspired the Wondrous Light: Through Advent and Christmas design, published by Selah Center in 2021. Now Selah has three Advent books for sale on Amazon. You can check them out on the Here & Now Books page. If you’re looking for an Advent book, check out the comprehensive suggested reading list on the Selah Center Books Page.

Here & Now Blog

A few months ago, as I searched for my grown-up Advent calendar, I wondered what a contemplative Advent devotional would be like.

So, I contacted the writers from Selah’s Here & Now blog, asking them if they were up for the challenge of writing enough contemplative reflections for every day of Advent. The response was tremendous. Their writings started appearing in my inbox.  This Advent blog is the fruit of their labors.

I hope you will look forward to opening a “new door” each day on the Here & Now blog and find a sweet treat to savor during Advent and Christmastide. My prayer is you’ll find my grown-up Advent calendar as delicious as the chocolate ones of my childhood.

I can hardly wait…I can smell the Christmas tree already.

---

---