Whether we observe it as Advent or simply Christmas preparation, Advent inspires creativity. We decorate trees and cookies, sing carols, and write cards to share our love. This season inspires crafts, adornment, and art.
The poem I chose for this week is "Advent Calendar" by Rowan Williams, from The Poems of Rowan Williams, published the year he became Archbishop of Canterbury. I liked William's descriptive poems best, where he uses language to paint a portrait or describe a picture, including several mediations on orthodox icons.
For a seminary assignment, I wrote a poem about a Nativity icon "after Rowan Williams" (imitating his style). It's not my finest or even a finished work, but that's not the point. Advent is not about completion or perfection, but the pregnant promise of God's ongoing creation.
Creativity begets creativity. God's natural world, Christ's life, and the Christian tradition inspire new art, language, and song in every generation. Below are two musical settings of Williams' "Advent Calendar." Prayer inspires art, which inspires poetry, which inspires music, which inspires prayer. This Advent, get creative. You don't have to be original, just inspired by an ancient story that is eternal and yet ever new.