---
title: The Season of Anticipation
description: This year's advent blog series features poetry and reflections surrounding this the season of anticipation in the Christian liturgical year.
image: https://blog.nes.edu/hubfs/The%20Season%20of%20Anticipation_12.3.16.jpg
---

![The Season of Anticipation_12.3.16.jpg](https://blog.nes.edu/hubfs/The%20Season%20of%20Anticipation_12.3.16.jpg)

 The poem “ADVENT” was first shared with us in 2014 by Jae Newman, a Northeastern Seminary alumnus and adjunct professor. This poem is the first entry in our advent blog series of poetry and reflections surrounding this the season of anticipation in the Christian liturgical year. Here in the first few days of advent let us collectively still our souls to hear the quiet whispers of our Lord.

ADVENT  
by, Jae Newman

Let those with ears hear  
and eyes see. Light the wreaths  
and pack away doubts  
until hearts regain their glow.

Gather together in expectation  
to behold how the hand that once trimmed  
chaos and shaped the stars,  
now reaches out into darkness  
toward his mother.

Inaugurate this season  
where waiting is the measure and the beat,  
and our prayers reside inside the wick  
as love burns doubly bright,  
and his Spirit, imbued, impales the night.

 

![Jae Newman_Northeastern Seminary_2015.jpg](https://blog.nes.edu/hubfs/Jae%20Newman_Northeastern%20Seminary_2015.jpg)

**Jae Newman (MAT ’15)** lives with his wife and three children in Rochester, N.Y. He teaches graduate research courses at Northeastern Seminary and English Language Arts at St. Paul Lutheran School in Hilton, N.Y. His poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and his works have appeared in publications such as Rock & Sling, Ruminate Magazine, The Cresset, and Relief. His first collection of poetry, [Collage of Seoul](http://wipfandstock.com/collage-of-seoul.html), was published in 2014.

## Related Articles

[![](https://blog.nes.edu/hubfs/Advent%20Blog_Unrest_12.7.16.jpg) ](https://blog.nes.edu/the-season-of-anticipation-in-a-time-of-unrest)

[reflection](https://blog.nes.edu/topic/reflection) [advent](https://blog.nes.edu/topic/advent) [seminary alumni](https://blog.nes.edu/topic/seminary-alumni)

### [The Season of Anticipation in a Time of Unrest](https://blog.nes.edu/the-season-of-anticipation-in-a-time-of-unrest)

This Advent reflection was originally published in the 2010 Community of the Savior’s annual Advent meditations booklet where Elizabeth Guckenbiehl-Lang attends church.

[Elizabeth Guckenbiehl-Lang](https://blog.nes.edu/author/elizabeth-guckenbiehl-lang) 

[Read More](https://blog.nes.edu/the-season-of-anticipation-in-a-time-of-unrest)

[![](https://blog.nes.edu/hubfs/Advent%20Blog_Retreat_12.8.16.jpg) ](https://blog.nes.edu/the-season-of-anticipation-in-a-time-of-retreat)

[spiritual formation](https://blog.nes.edu/topic/spiritual-formation) [reflection](https://blog.nes.edu/topic/reflection) [advent](https://blog.nes.edu/topic/advent)

### [The Season of Anticipation in a Time of Retreat](https://blog.nes.edu/the-season-of-anticipation-in-a-time-of-retreat)

Space to ask questions.Space to listen to God’s Spirit.Space to let insights, impressions, and reflectionsbump into each other and converge for discovery.Space for your...

[Lisa Bennett](https://blog.nes.edu/author/lisa-bennett) 

[Read More](https://blog.nes.edu/the-season-of-anticipation-in-a-time-of-retreat)