5 Ways to Observe Advent (and how queerness is part of that)

What this episode covers

Brian and Shay’s December will be a month to take a break from all podcast-related work to redesign the website and relaunch these podcasts. So with that, we will be republishing some of our best Advent podcasts from some years ago. Advent is starting and we share with you some ways that you can observe the season, even if you aren’t connected to a church or faith community. We also get into how Advent might be particularly resonant with LGBTQ folks and what the queer experience can add to the season. If you’re looking for a supportive, spiritual community, we would love to welcome you to Sanctuary Collective. Learn more at queertheology.com/community Episode Transcript Father Shay: Welcome back the Queer Theology podcast, Father Shay here. Brian and I are taking a bit of a break for the month of December. So we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes from Advent and Christmas’ past. We hope you enjoy them! Brian: Welcome to the Queer Theology podcast! Fr. Shay: Where each episode, we take a queer look at the week’s lectionary readings. We’re the co-founders of QueerTheology.com and the hosts for this podcast. I’m Father Shay Kearns  B: And I’m Brian G. Murphy. FS: Welcome back to the Queer Theology podcast, this week we’re taking a look at the lectionary texts for December 2nd. This week is all about the end times and the end of the world, but it’s also the beginning of Advent. It’s kind of this strange lectionary choice [laughs] of all of these end of the world texts as we start the preparation, in our church calendar, of the birth of Jesus. We’re starting a new year, a new lectionary cycle, which is really exciting.  Today we thought we’d talk a little bit about Advent and some ways that you can maybe observe Advent, even if you’re not connected to a religious community, or you’re still trying to figure out what you believe about all of this faith and Christianity stuff. So Brian, as you think about Advent, what are some of the ways that you like to observe this season. What are some thoughts that come up for you when you think about Advent?  B: You know, I’m very aware of the weather changing and the days getting shorter, at least in the northern hemisphere. So for me, this time of Advent comes with a bit of a slowing down, sort of a more contemplative period, which aligns with the spirit of Advent. The Christian calendar was designed this way so that this spirit of waiting and reflecting aligns with a sort of natural cycle of slowing [laughs], and reflecting, and hibernating. So for me, this period of the end of November, December, really is a time of reflecting. I try to spend more time journaling. I just actually, a few days ago, recommitted to a daily meditation practice. So for me, I’m trying to be intentional about waiting and reflecting. There’s some other stuff too that I’ll talk about later, but what about you? [laughs] I don’t wanna talk forever and ever.  FS: I, too, love this season. I think the liturgical seasons that are a little bit more depressing [laughs] or slow or blue are my favorite, because they make space for us to not have everything all together, and for things to not be perfect. As someone who grew up evangelical, where there was such an emphasis on happy faith all of the time – you couldn’t actually have a bad thought or emotion – I really appreciate the ways that being a follower of the liturgical calendar allows space to grieve and to mourn and to sink into the darkness, and all of the ways that that is a part of what it means to be human. I love this sense of Advent for that, for acknowledging the longer nights and acknowledging the kind of longing and pain of the world as we wait for this hope that we’ve been promised. For me, it’s about just sitting with those emotions and allowing them to be present in my life.  And then, you know, as someone who is part of a community – it’s also about lighting candles, the Advent candles, and the O Antiphons that are spoken in church each week, wh