The Heart Moves Toward Light: Advent With The Mystics, Saints And Prophets
Advent 2023
September 11, 2023
It is only now, sitting down to prepare the 2023 edition of The Heart Turns Toward Light: Advent With The Mystics, Saints and Prophets that I realize today is 9/11. This feels significant, as it was my experience in NYC that day in 2001 which ultimately led me to Advent as a path out of the spiritual dead-end I’d entered after the terrorist attacks.
Rather than retelling that experience here, I recommend reading the Introduction to last year’s edition. For newcomers to Advent, the orientation there should prove helpful. If you’re a return reader, I encourage you, too, to revisit that Introduction to see what new resonates in light of your own developing Advent practice and another year lived on this beloved and troubled Earth.
This year, as in 2001—and, truth be told, all times—we face the difficult question: how does a weary world rejoice? This guide does not attempt an answer. Rather, my hope is it gets you comfortable with the question. Not to say there aren’t answers. But those you find will be yours alone, discovered along your own unique spiritual path. The mystics in this guide were masters at living the questions, finding their own hard-won answers—and for what remained unanswerable, letting the mystery be. I think you’ll find them good company on the Advent path.
As in years past, you will receive a daily email beginning the first day of Advent (Dec. 3) and concluding Christmas Day. Each email will introduce you to a mystic, saint or prophet whose life and teaching will enrich your holiday season. While the list is still evolving, the guiding lights I plan on introducing you to this year include spiritual mavericks Brother Lawrence and Margery Kempe; holy disruptors Sojourner Truth, Susanna Wesley and Florence Li Tim-Oi; key Biblical figures like Mary of Nazareth and Nicodemus; and soulful free spirits Black Elk and Edith Stein. While most are new for 2023, we will revisit a select few who especially resonated with readers in 2022, including Etty Hillesum, Caryll Houselander, John the Baptist and Meister Eckhart. These wildly diverse spiritual geniuses all have great gifts to share, if we’re willing to approach them with beginners’ minds full of curiosity and compassion.
Each day’s entry also includes a reflection for meditation, prayer, journaling, walking, listening to music, or however else you may practice. The practices recommended here are intended to help unclog your spiritual pipes, but they are not ends in themselves. Rather, they are means of awakening and opening ourselves, of stretching our souls, so that we are better prepared to receive, embody and offer back to the world those quintessential Advent pillars: hope, love, joy and peace.
It’s been more than two decades since I first set foot on the Advent path. This annual season has immeasurably enriched my life. My sincere hope is it does the same for you. Thank you for sharing the path with me. As we walk together, I wish you peace and every good,
Gregory Durham
Austin TX
Sept. 11, 2023
Ready For More?
Read the Introduction to last year’s edition. Then, keep an eye on your inbox. Daily emails begin on December 3rd and run through Christmas day.
Holiday Happenings at Life In The City
If you are in or near Austin, you are most welcome to join us at our holiday gatherings. We are located at 205 East Monroe Street, one block east of South Congress in central Austin.
Dec 10, 11:15 am: LITC’s original holiday musical, Make Room In Your Heart.
Dec 21, 7 pm: Blue Christmas, an intimate service for the darkest night of the year.
Dec 23, 6 pm: Christmas Eve-Eve candlelight service, an annual LITC tradition.
Dec 24, 11:15 am: LITC’s regular Sunday service.
Dec 31, 11:15 am: A fun, casual service with cookies and coffee to welcome 2024.