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Into the Heart of Advent: Twenty-five Conversations with Jesus
Imagine meeting up with Jesus for a heart-to-heart conversation. What would you say to him? What might he say to you?
Penelope Wilcock takes us into the heart of Advent in this engaging devotional that offers a unique take on the Christmas season. In a series of twenty-five reflections, she invites you to listen in on conversations with Jesus about the Christian journey and the meaning of Advent for our lives today. Full of thought-provoking wisdom, this is a bold, imaginative Advent book for 2020.
Covering a variety of topics, from families, gifts, angels, homes and hospitality – and more besides – these are Advent reflections that speak to the core of the Christian faith. This is a book for anyone who has wondered what talking with Jesus might be like, or anyone who is looking for a fresh, alternative way of engaging with the Advent season.
Get ready to be surprised and challenged, as you hear Jesus’ own take on the original Christmas and what it means for our world twenty centuries later.
Penelope Wilcock takes us into the heart of Advent in this engaging devotional that offers a unique take on the Christmas season. In a series of twenty-five reflections, she invites you to listen in on conversations with Jesus about the Christian journey and the meaning of Advent for our lives today. Full of thought-provoking wisdom, this is a bold, imaginative Advent book for 2020.
Covering a variety of topics, from families, gifts, angels, homes and hospitality – and more besides – these are Advent reflections that speak to the core of the Christian faith. This is a book for anyone who has wondered what talking with Jesus might be like, or anyone who is looking for a fresh, alternative way of engaging with the Advent season.
Get ready to be surprised and challenged, as you hear Jesus’ own take on the original Christmas and what it means for our world twenty centuries later.
128 pages, Paperback
Published August 20, 2020
5 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Penelope Wilcock
30 books133 followersPenelope (Pen) Wilcock is the author of over twenty books, including The Hawk & the Dove Series 1 (9 volumes), and The Hawk & the Dove Series 2.
Having got back the publishing rights to her books, she and her husband Tony Collins have now republished them under their own imprint Humilis Hastings on the Amazon publishing platform. Pen Wilcock shares the profits from all her Humilis Hastings sales with a community of Carthusian monks in Sussex where she lives.
She has been a Methodist minister and has worked as a hospice and school chaplain.
Having got back the publishing rights to her books, she and her husband Tony Collins have now republished them under their own imprint Humilis Hastings on the Amazon publishing platform. Pen Wilcock shares the profits from all her Humilis Hastings sales with a community of Carthusian monks in Sussex where she lives.
She has been a Methodist minister and has worked as a hospice and school chaplain.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 17, 2022
I like the sentiment
Penelope Wilcock takes her reader through a journey of 25 scenes in which she has reflective conversations with and asks meaningful questions of Jesus as if he were physically present with her. The image is a powerful and challenging one considering that the Christian faith claims that the believer knows God’s presence continually and in a real way through the Holy Spirit.
I’ve recently been thinking about the benefits and beauty of creative expression. I like the idea of a book which engages with and expresses faith in a freer, more interpretive style; there’s something dynamic and heartfelt about it. Creativity, including creative writing, participates in a beautiful aspect of the nature of God and expression involves movement, the inward bursting outward. It summons images of the world as it was created: alive, breathing, moving, ebbing and flowing, ever changing, never static. It feels healthy to participate in that, whether as the writer or a contemplative reader; it gives a sense of harmony and unity with the way the world was made and is intended to be.
Reservations
I found some of the theological ideas which undergird the content questionable at times. When unorthodoxy and orthodoxy are often so close and only separated by simple yet significant distinctions, it must be hard to write a creative piece in which you don’t have space to clarify exactly what is meant doctrinally. Defining and defending doctrine isn’t the point in a book like this, rather the reader must approach the book in a different way, with different expectations.
I want it to be possible to write a piece like this. I wonder if it is achievable without falling into significant theological pitfalls or whether my attitude is too rigid and inflexible. Truth is to be held highly, but God also has grace for when we (very often) miss the mark.
An advent recommendation?
Personally I’d prefer something a little more theologically substantial for an advent devotional that’s rooted in scripture and teases out its meaning. Penelope Wilcock doesn’t claim to be doing such a thing; she doesn’t call her chapters devotionals. If you’re after a book just to get you in the headspace for Christmas and take you on a comforting journey through the wintry festivities with the presence of God in mind, maybe this is the book for you.
Penelope Wilcock takes her reader through a journey of 25 scenes in which she has reflective conversations with and asks meaningful questions of Jesus as if he were physically present with her. The image is a powerful and challenging one considering that the Christian faith claims that the believer knows God’s presence continually and in a real way through the Holy Spirit.
I’ve recently been thinking about the benefits and beauty of creative expression. I like the idea of a book which engages with and expresses faith in a freer, more interpretive style; there’s something dynamic and heartfelt about it. Creativity, including creative writing, participates in a beautiful aspect of the nature of God and expression involves movement, the inward bursting outward. It summons images of the world as it was created: alive, breathing, moving, ebbing and flowing, ever changing, never static. It feels healthy to participate in that, whether as the writer or a contemplative reader; it gives a sense of harmony and unity with the way the world was made and is intended to be.
Reservations
I found some of the theological ideas which undergird the content questionable at times. When unorthodoxy and orthodoxy are often so close and only separated by simple yet significant distinctions, it must be hard to write a creative piece in which you don’t have space to clarify exactly what is meant doctrinally. Defining and defending doctrine isn’t the point in a book like this, rather the reader must approach the book in a different way, with different expectations.
I want it to be possible to write a piece like this. I wonder if it is achievable without falling into significant theological pitfalls or whether my attitude is too rigid and inflexible. Truth is to be held highly, but God also has grace for when we (very often) miss the mark.
An advent recommendation?
Personally I’d prefer something a little more theologically substantial for an advent devotional that’s rooted in scripture and teases out its meaning. Penelope Wilcock doesn’t claim to be doing such a thing; she doesn’t call her chapters devotionals. If you’re after a book just to get you in the headspace for Christmas and take you on a comforting journey through the wintry festivities with the presence of God in mind, maybe this is the book for you.
December 7, 2020
I loved this little book! The cosyness of winter imagery combined with really thoughtful reflections for Advent. I loved the author settling down to drink tea with Jesus and ask him all the questions that she had and the responses she received were very good and often from a perspective I hadn’t thought of.
I will probably make a habit of reading it every year at Advent time as part of my prayer and reflection on the season.
I will probably make a habit of reading it every year at Advent time as part of my prayer and reflection on the season.
December 25, 2022
I finished this book on Christmas morning (so no surprises there!) I have really enjoyed my morning date with this book and a cup of tea first thing during December. And what things I've discovered through it! I keep telling people that Jesus wasn't born in a stable (I won't give any spoilers here...) Buy this book , keep it for eleven months until next Advent and enjoy it.
December 24, 2022
I get what Wilcock is trying to do here, but even in imaginative experiments, one has to be careful putting too many words in Jesus mouth.
December 13, 2024
Easy to read but thought provoking
December 25, 2020
Poignant tales
Some beautiful conversations with Jesus that draw us into his embrace. Stories that will spark your imagination and wonder. Stories that help you keep company with Jesus
Some beautiful conversations with Jesus that draw us into his embrace. Stories that will spark your imagination and wonder. Stories that help you keep company with Jesus
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews