An Advent daily devotional is a wonderful way to prepare our hearts, minds, and spirits for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. If you are looking for something a little different from the usual devotional, check out a new offering from Paraclete Press called All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings.

The introduction explores the roots of Advent and how they’re related to what is going on in nature. Late autumn is the end of the growing season and a time of increasing dark and cold. In the early church this time was seen “as a foreshadowing of the time when life as we know it will end completely.” Yet the church saw that “When life as we know it goes, this year and at the end of all years, One comes, and comes bringing a new beginning.”

All Creation Waits includes 25 meditations which focus on animals and how they adapt as darkness and cold descend; the theme emphasized in the daily devotions written by Gayle Boss is that the darkness does not signify an ending but is the way a new beginning comes. The meditations are accompanied by lovely original woodcuts of the animals by David G. Klein.

Advent is a time of introspection. What better way to explore our connection with God than by relating our journey to that of our fellow creatures who are part of God’s creation?