For some people, Advent is little more than a chocolaty countdown to Christmas. For others, its promises and stories are so familiar that they’ve lost their mystery and power.

The 2015 Advent Calendar from Presbyterians Today is sure to reawaken in you the beauty and spirituality of Advent, thanks to the wonderful, poetic reflections of author Rachel Srubas and the vivid, contemplative watercolors of illustrator Roy DeLeon. Rediscovering Advent features a Scripture reading, meditation and prayer for each day of Advent.

“This is the first time, at least that I can recall, when our Advent devotional has been written in poetry,” says the Rev. Patrick Heery, editor of Presbyterians Today. “And Rachel Srubas, our author, chose poetry for a very specific reason. She didn’t just want to write about rediscovering the meaning of Advent. She wanted her very language, her very words, to jostle us and make us see Advent in a new—or old and forgotten—way. Poetry can do that. It hits you with little surprises, makes you work just a little bit more, and suddenly you’re seeing the world, maybe even God, with fresh eyes. I hope readers will let this poetry disturb their worlds, even if just a bit, as we prepare for the greatest and most joyous disturbance—the birth of Christ.” 

Srubas says of the regularity of Advent that, “I found it hard to say anything new, even about the God who makes all things new.”

But in writing this devotional she says, “This Advent is different. The opportunity to write the Presbyterians Today devotional drove me deep into the Bible. It reawakened me to the power of what biblical scholar Walter Bruggemann calls ‘poetic speech that moves beyond the settled reality.’ In anticipation of Christ’s coming, I’ve found holy refreshment that I hope you’ll find, too, as you read the Scriptures, pray the poems that make up this devotional, and take a contemplative look at artist Roy DeLeon’s accompanying paintings.”

The print version of this popular resource is sold out, but you can order a viewable and self-printable PDF of the devotional at this link.

Finally, if you want to greet the day with electronic inspiration, the devotional is available online, but without DeLeon’s illustrations.