A Very Tov Advent
Join us for A Very Tov Advent, a digital resource designed to enrich your Advent season with weekly devotionals, art, music, and practices centered on hope, love, joy, and peace. Each week, we’ll offer meaningful content to help you reflect deeply and connect spiritually. Discover the true essence of Advent and experience a season of goodness (“tov”) as we prepare for Christmas together.
Week 4 | Devotional Story
For the final week of Advent, Sarah Hunt reflects on the carol, "Tomorrow Shall Be my Dancing Day" and how the love of Christ invites us into a dance.
Special thank you to Brighton School of Ballet for the beautiful dancing to help us visualize this theme more deeply.
Week 4 | Practice
I am not a dancer! Anyone will tell you that and offer a little chuckle at the idea, but it happens to be one of the things that our family does often and with complete abandon. It feels like worship! We “dance in circles” (Psalm 42:5), “turn about” (Jeremiah 31:22), “skip” (Psalm 29:6), “whirl or pirouette” (2 Samuel 6:14), “limp - dance” (1 Kings 18:26)!
While I’m cooking dinner, my kids always gather like moths to a porch light, probably hoping for a snack to ruin their appetite. There is usually great music playing and sure enough within a few minutes of being together we are bouncing, spinning and kicking our way into delight. We dance together for a song or two and miraculously feel more connected to each other and short of breath from those few minutes than we ever do after an hour long conversation. See, I think that is the thing about dancing - it connects us body to soul. It helps us to love “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)
As a practice this week grab someone you love; a child, your spouse, a pet, and invite them to dance, twirl them around the kitchen a few times. Let them know how much they are loved and remind each other in the dance that the love you share now is but a foretaste of the love of Christ that will be embodied when He comes for His love again!
The last song on this week’s playlist is a good one. “Shake up your soul. Throw your hands in the air. Throw your hat in the ring. Throw your hips and your heart into everything!”
Week 4 | Playlist
Week 4 | Poetry
I cannot dance, O Lord,
Unless You lead me.
If You wish me to leap joyfully,
Let me see You dance and sing—
Then I will leap into Love—
And from Love into Knowledge,
And from Knowledge into the Harvest,
That sweetest Fruit beyond human sense.
There I will stay with You, whirling.
Jane Hirshfield (b. 1953)
“Award-winning poet, essayist, and translator Jane Hirshfield is the author of ten collections of poetry, including The Asking: New and Selected Poems (2023); Ledger (2020); The Beauty (2015), longlisted for the National Book Award; Come, Thief (2011), a finalist for the PEN USA Poetry Award; and Given Sugar, Given Salt (2001), a finalist for the National Book Critics Award.
Hirshfield once told Contemporary Authors: “Poetry, for me, is an instrument of investigation and a mode of perception, a way of knowing and feeling both self and world…I am interested in poems that find a clarity without simplicity; in a way of thinking and speaking that does not exclude complexity but also does not obscure; in poems that know the world in many ways at once—heart, mind, voice, and body.”” (poetryfoundation.org)
Week 4 | Artwork
“Lord of Creations” (1982) Jyoti Sahi
“Dr. Jyoti Sahi studied art at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in England and gained a Doctorate in Divinity from Serampore College. In 1970 he came to live in Bangalore where he was connected with the National Biblical Catechetical and Liturgical Centre founded by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, soon after the Second Vatican Council, to reflect on the relation of the Church in India to Indian cultures and spirituality. He also designed works for Indian churches. Coming from a mixed religious background having Hindu and Christian roots, Jyoti has spent the last forty years trying to see how it is possible to bridge/integrate these religious and cultural divides through art. He is particularly interested in the relation of Christian symbols and stories to the sacred images that are found in other faith traditions, particularly in the Indian tradition. As an artist, he has been actively involved with various non governmental groups in India concerned with social change. Jyoti currently teaches in seminaries all over India, lecturing on the relation of art to Indian aesthetics and spirituality.” (artway.eu)
Week 3 | Devotional Story
Week 3 guides us in remembering the real reason to have joy this season.
Week 3 | Playlist
Week 3 | Artwork
"The Christ of the Breadlines" (1951) by Fritz Eichenberg.
Read more about this work HERE.
Week 3 | Poetry
Little Gidding (V) T.S. Eliot
What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make and end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. And every phrase
And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,
Taking its place to support the others,
The word neither diffident nor ostentatious,
An easy commerce of the old and the new,
The common word exact without vulgarity,
The formal word precise but not pedantic,
The complete consort dancing together)
Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,
Every poem an epitaph. And any action
Is a step to the block, to the fire, down the sea's throat
Or to an illegible stone: and that is where we start.
We die with the dying:
See, they depart, and we go with them.
We are born with the dead:
See, they return, and bring us with them.
The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree
Are of equal duration. A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments. So, while the light fails
On a winter's afternoon, in a secluded chapel
History is now and England.
With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always--
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
Week 3 | Practice
This week, light a candle and pray through Luke 1: 46-55. Rejoice as Mary did in God’s promises!
46 And Mary[a] said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Week 2 | Devotional Story
Week 2 takes us to Kensington Metropark for a reflection on peace and the birds.
Watch the story or read it HERE.
Scripture for further reflection:
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’" — Luke 2:13-14
NRSV
"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV
"For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 (NRSV)
"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1 NRSV
Week 2 | Playlist
Week 2 | Artwork
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"The Window of Peace and Human Happiness" (1964) by Marc Chagall.
Inspired by Isaiah 9:1-7, this stained glass window was given to the United Nations in 1964. Filled with biblical imagery from both the Old and New Testament, the central image of the window is the ‘kiss of peace' which signifies love and harmony between heaven and earth.
In his collected essays, he shares, "For me a stained glass window is a transparent partition between my heart and the heart of the world. Stained glass has to be serious and passionate. It is something elevating and exhilarating. It has to live through the perception of light. To read the Bible is to perceive a certain light, and the window has to make this obvious through its simplicity and grace…"
Read more about this work HERE.
Week 2 | Practice
This week, take a peace walk outdoors—somewhere quiet if you can, though even a neighborhood stroll will do. Leave your phone behind and ask God to make you attentive to His presence. Notice the birds, the trees, the winter sky, and the way creation seems to trust its Maker without question. Reflect on the places where worry has taken root in your life. As you walk, offer those burdens to God and ask Him to fill you with His peace.
We recommend these trails and parks
Week 1 | Devotional Story
Jenni Curtin shares how she found hope in recreating a family candy recipe.
Watch the story or read it HERE.
Week 1 | Playlist
Week 1 | Poetry
Pied Beauty By Gerard Manley Hopkins
Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
Week 1 | Artwork
"The Angelus" (1859) by Jean-François Millet is a poignant representation of hope. This painting depicts two peasants pausing in prayer in a quiet potato field as the evening bell rings, signaling the end of the workday. With their heads bowed and hands clasped, the figures exude a sense of humility, gratitude, and connection to something greater than themselves.
The act of stopping amidst labor to acknowledge God reflects trust in His provision and care. The soft, golden light in the sky suggests the close of a day well-spent, yet also hints at renewal and the promise of tomorrow. The simplicity of the scene emphasizes that hope is found not in material wealth but in faith and the rhythms of life ordained by God. The quiet reverence of the figures inspires a sense of peace and assurance that even in toil, divine grace is present.
The Angelus Prayer
The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
Be it done unto me according to your Word.
Hail Mary…
And the Word was made flesh,
And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary…
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Week 1 | Practice
Kentucky Cream Candy Recipe
Try your hand at making this delicious candy recipe with your family.
4 cups granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup boiling water
1 cup heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla
Butter for marble slab
Recipe courtesy of My Country Table.
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Combine sugar, salt and boiling water in a large pan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan with a lid and let mixture cook for exactly 5 minutes.
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Remove lid and reduce heat to medium. Add a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Slowly add the cream, a little bit at a time, making sure that the mixture does not stop bubbling. DO NOT stir. Cook until candy reaches 260 degrees on a candy thermometer or forms a hard ball when tested in cold water
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Remove candy from heat, and immediately pour onto a very cold buttered marble slab. DO NOT scrape the insides of the pan. Drizzle the vanilla over the surface of the candy. Using a metal spatula, turn each long side of the candy inward. Flip the candy over to cool the top side.
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When cool enough to handle, cut the candy in half, (if two people are pulling it). Using your fingertips, pull the candy for at least 3-4 minutes until it’s no longer shiny and sticky and has started to look satiny and lighter in color. It should also hold its ridges when pulled. Pull the candy into long ropes and place it on the marble slab. Using scissors, immediately cut the candy into pieces about 1 1/2″ long. Make sure the candy pieces are not touching since they are still sticky at this point. The candy will now be a consistency of taffy. It’s delicious but try not to eat it.
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Cover the candy with a towel and let it set overnight to cream. Candy can be placed in a tin, but pieces should not be touching until the candy has creamed. I find it best to just spread the candy on cookie sheets or leave on the marble slab and cover with a non-frizzy towel.
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Yields: About 2 pounds