Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas

by Jan L. Richardson

A devotional guide for pilgrims awaiting the birth of hope, Night Visions leads spiritual travelers on a journey through the Christmas season--from the horizons of Advent to the presence of Christ on Epiphany--ushering quiet moments of introspection into a time that is often rushed and hurried.

Genres: Poetry, Spirituality, Religion, Devotional, Theology

126 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Jan is an artist, writer, and ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. She serves as director of The Wellspring Studio, LLC, and travels widely as a retreat leader and conference speaker. Known for her distinctive intertwining of word and image, Jan’s work has attracted an international audience drawn to the welcoming and imaginative spaces that she creates in her books, online blogs, and public events.

A native Floridian several generations over, Jan grew up in Evinston, a small community near the university town of Gainesville. The rural landscape, community traditions (including the annual Evinston Thanksgiving dinner in the park that has been taking place for more than fifty years), and lifelong relationships fostered a rich sense of place, imagination, and ritual that continue to shape Jan's life and infuse her work.

Jan is the Visiting Artist at First United Methodist Church of Winter Park, Florida, serves on the faculty of the Grünewald Guild in Washington State, and is part of Saint Brigid of Kildare Monastery, a community that draws from Methodist and Benedictine traditions. She makes her home in Central Florida with her husband and frequent collaborator, the singer/songwriter Garrison Doles.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry, art, meditations to reflect on during Advent, Christmas, through to Epiphany. Lovely, thoughtful, different reflections on embracing the difficult areas of life in weekly chapters: darkness, desire, preparing a space, hope, birthing, welcoming, and thresholds.

Here's one of Jan's poems from the welcoming chapter:

Ancient One
who makes all things new,
may we receive with gentleness
and touch with hopefulness
and protect with fierceness
and love with tenderness;
and may we celebrate with gratefulness
and welcome with humbleness
and tend with gracefulness
all that you give
into our care.

Credit line: copyright Jan Richardson, Night Visions. janrichardson.com

Highly recommend for all who want a beautiful and contemplative devotional for Advent & Christmas season.

[Nora Beach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a gift to me from my husband many years ago. I read it every year. Just as it is set up, I read one page a day. I love each daily story and love even more, the daily prayer. I find this daily experience through Advent and the Christmas season very thought provoking. Even though I have read it every year, I find something new to contemplate and reflect on every year!
Just a note: it is recorded that I started this book on Dec. 21st. That is the date that I first decided to see if this book would pop up in Goodreads! I was pleasantly surprised that it did!

[Lisa Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is going on my all time favorite books list. Jan Richardson has been my favorite poet for a long time. She has a gorgeous way with words, bringing in unexpected feelings and hope at every turn.

This was a beautiful journey through advent, and all the way through epiphany and the week beyond. I didn’t realize when I bought it kept going into January, but I’m so glad it did; it was exactly what I needed. I will read this every year.

[Mary Loebig Giles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given it 5 stars but the book is poorly organized with no index for the poems and with many of the new poems untitled, making it hard to reference or return to favorite sections. Jan combines reflections with verse, with many stories just a bit too personal to access easily. Nevertheless it’s a beautiful volume, perhaps particularly lovely because it is so specific and personal. I savored well beyond Advent.

[Terri Dennehy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beloved book to accompany the journey through Advent to Epiphany. Each page is a precious scrap in a fascinating collage and the images lead to new personal discoveries. It's an invitation to enter darkness and create spaces of hospitality within. This is my first year completing the full journey, but it is a book I return to each year for contemplation and creativity.

[JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful companion to Advent. I loved that this resource behind before Advent and goes through Epiphany. The author uses story, incredible poetry, and artwork throughout in this non-traditional devotional.

[Brandi Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read this book so many times. It came to me at a time I really needed it, and I’ve found solace in it many times since. If you don’t know Jan Richardson’s work - indulge yourself. All of her books are lovely.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved using this book for devotions during Advent.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautiful book gently carried me through Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. I will return to it again.

[Marcia McLaughlin]

This is a book that I've read annually for at least 6 years, from the beginning of Advent through Epiphany. There's a short reading for each day and I find new things in it every year.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book of devotions, original artwork and blessings to add richness to the Advent season

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book with lovely artwork, perfect for Advent! Will use next year too as a way to be more present during Advent!

[Bonnie Westmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful, contemplative book for advent. Great for meditation and lectio. I looked forward to it each day with my tea and rosary. Very calming and peaceful.

[Ang · Rating 4 out of 5]

full of musings and poetry and prayers. I found it a compassionate and gentle guide through advent and the weeks afterwards.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find that often the daily reading in devotionals does not always speak to me that day, so I like devotionals like this that aren’t pegged to specific days, for I feel freer to read until something does speak to me. I think I would have found this book more meaningful had I known from the beginning what the loss was that Richardson speaks of occasionally throughout (her husband’s death) as knowing gave context to her statements about it so I was able to relate to the magnitude and was no longer distracted by them.

Anyway, it’s a good devotional. I like the short readings which complement her short free-verse poems. I appreciate her vulnerability and am inspired by her faith that keeps looking to God in the dark times. (Another combined prose and poetry Advent devotional I read this season was Herbert Brokering’s In the Bleak Midwinter: 40 Meditations and Prayers for Advent and Christmas)

[Susan]

Sacred journey into the untravelled shadows of the season of celebration of Jesus' birth ~ a deeply, intimate venture down the path that leads to the secret place of the soul ~ beautifully, refreshingly, soberingly, insightful ~ as a candle flame in the dark night ~

For me, this book provides, facilitates, a quiet, private place for experiencing and celebrating the season of Christmas, as never before ~

Beautifully written with authenticity and transparency, in the way we have come to know, love and appreciate Jan Richardson, artist and author ~ through her work, she vulnerably shares her own journey with the world, with me, with you, with all who experience the sacred thoughts she puts to paper

Sacred richness, indeed!

[Kj · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very special book. I go back to it every year during advent--and other times. I love the collage work, the prayer-poems, the meditations. Jan Richardson has created a book of wonder, a space for waiting and watching.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am glad I read this. In brief pieces the author evokes images both new and old of advent and christmas to give spiritual guidance (and no easy answers) to our lives. The pieces were often moving, small and bite sized. Not necessarily easy to digest, but nourishing none-the-less. I liked it.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reading this again this advent. This is probably my favorite book for this season. A reminder to relax into the natural cycles of the earth and allow myself to see darkness differently

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book to prepare for Christmas

[Susannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read my review here-
http://teaandtheology.com/book-review...

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It has readings and poems and some art for each day of advent. I've used it for several years, and always find it challenging and spiritually nourishing.

[Alyssa Foll · Rating 5 out of 5]

A profound Advent devotional. I savored every day's readings and the art work that accompanied it. What a joy to have discovered Jan Richardson as a minister and author!