Advent is a season of beautiful, challenging paradox. On one hand, the church invites us to pause, reflect on our lives, and prepare for the coming of Christ. On the other hand, the season is inevitably one of the busiest times of the year, filled with holiday preparations and celebrations that demand our attention.
This year, we have invited acclaimed spiritual writer Hannah Anderson to help us push back against that relentless busy-ness and carve out essential space for spiritual growth during our upcoming Advent Quiet Day. Anderson, known for works such as Made for More, Humble Roots, and Turning of Days, beautifully blends personal narratives with deep theological and biblical analysis making her the perfect person to lead us into deeper reflection on our lives and on this season.
The Rev. Noah Van Niel recently sat down with Hannah to discuss why taking a full day for reflection is so vital right now, and what attendees can expect from the Quiet Day on Saturday, December 6th, and her guest sermons and Adult Formation class on Sunday, December 7th.
You can watch a full video of their conversation here:
You can sign up to attend the Advent Quiet Day, which takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Monumental Chapel at Virginia Wesleyan University, here:
Why Quiet is an Act of Resistance
For Hannah, observing Advent requires intentionality because modern life simply doesn’t allow for it naturally. “I did not grow up with the rhythms of Advent,” she said. “I’ve found it very difficult in some ways. And I think that’s because it’s so counter-cultural to the way our world works, especially around the holidays.”
She stressed that creating space for reflection demands an active decision. “It has to be an intentional practice of creating space, creating time, committing to something that I know won’t happen naturally,” Anderson said, noting that “there are no rhythms and movements within our society right now that would make this space of reflection, waiting, contemplation.”
Fr. Noah echoed that sentiment, saying the world is not going to create quiet or make space for prayer, especially “as things get even more sort of harried as we move towards the end of the calendar year.” He appreciates the idea that taking this time is “sort of an act of resistance to say, ‘you know what? Today is about quiet.’”
It is important to note that the Quiet Day, will not be “strictly enforced silence.” Rather, as Fr. Noah explained, the idea is “to set aside time for reflection,” with Anderson “talking a little bit and leading us into those times of the quiet and reflection.”
Learning to Wait with Creation
The theme of the Quiet Day, which draws on Anderson’s Advent devotional book, Heaven and Nature Sing, focuses on how Advent is grounded in God’s renewal and redemption of all creation through the act of incarnation.
Since she didn’t grow up with liturgical rhythms, Hannah found herself learning about how to wait and practice Advent by observing the natural world. This reflection was inspired by a passage in Romans 8, where Paul talks about the world “waiting in expectation.”
“That really got me thinking about ‘how does the earth wait?’ And ‘what is it waiting for?’” Hannah said. She finds that even amidst human chaos, creation demonstrates a “non-anxious consistency in some ways.” The earth teaches us what it looks like “to wait with a sense of hope that is quiet enough” and “confident that it can sit and work through cycles and rhythms, knowing that God will do as God has promised.”
Hannah hopes that throughout the day, attendees will recognize the profound meaning of Advent, realizing that they are entering into something much larger than themselves. She desires for us to recognize the “cosmological scope of what Advent is inviting us into.” Furthermore, she emphasized that this waiting is not meant to be done alone: “This is not a solitary process. This is something that’s communal. It’s a group project. It is so large in its scope that it includes us all.”
For those still debating whether to attend the Advent Quiet Day, Hannah offered a word of encouragement: “Give yourself permission to take time,” she said. She urged people to “realize that this is not being stolen from anything else” and to receive this space as a gift, knowing there is “no guilt attached by taking the whole Saturday off and spending time in these places of reflection and preparation.” We invite you to join us for this special opportunity to breathe, think deeply about the season, and reclaim time for spiritual growth.
