ADVENT QUIET MORNING

This morning, I read poems, pieces, and excerpts from various authors for my annual Advent Quiet Morning. Many of the authors I read this year were those I first encountered as part of my long-distance, by-phone, weekly book club with my friend and reading/conversation partner.

The 2022 version of Advent Quiet Morning ended up in a very different place than I anticipated. First, I broke a bunch of my own arbitrary rules for how this event should look and feel—three sets of readings became four, there ended up being no Lutheran voice, I read more than one piece from two authors. Second, it was delayed by a week due to inclement weather. That meant that in the week between the originally scheduled date and the rescheduled date and time, I discovered a piece that became my favorite piece and the one that really anchored everything for me. Third, due to other events scheduled on the new date, I had to start half an hour earlier than originally planned. That likely caused some confusion for people, many of whom arrived late. I thought it was going up to just be two of us when the time to start arrived, but at the peak of the morning's attendance there were twelve people present. 

It ended up being a powerful morning and moment, filled with prophetic voices, pressing silence, and people resonating with the works.

The set lists for the "Opening (to You)" version of Advent Quiet Morning:

Gate

• "Psalm 24" by Norman Fischer. From Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms.
• "The Blessed Gates of the City" by Scott Cairns. From Anaphora.
• Excerpts from "Opening the Gates" by Makoto Fujimura. From Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life.
• "Psaume 24: A l'Eternel appartient la terre," track three of La Musique de la BIBLE révélée. (Another rule broken: a piece of music.)

Mary

• "Mary..." by Leila Chatti. From Deluge.
• "Virgin" by Scott Erickson. From Honest Advent.
• "Prayer to the Madonna" by Brian Doyle. From A Book of Uncommon Prayer.

Body and Soul

• "On the Virgin" by Catherine of Siena. From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime.
• "Beautiful Baby, Beautiful Child (a lullaby)" by Joy Harjo. From Conflict Resolutions for Holy Beings.
• "Silence" by Scott Erickson. Rough draft from his Instagram account.

Mary II

• "Goop" by Scott Erickson. From Honest Advent.
• "Sometimes I Wonder" by Kaitlyn Shetler. From a 2019 online post.
• "Litany While Reading Scripture in the Gynecologic Oncology Waiting Room" by Leila Chatti. From Deluge.