Advent Centering Prayer: Restore Our Hope
Centering Prayer continues through Advent with the theme, Restore Our Hope. Our 30 minutes together on Mondays in December will take a break from the teachings of Father Thomas Keating. Instead, we will gather around a centering song on Weeks 1 and 3 and a guided meditation on Weeks 2 and 4. The song/meditation time will be followed by our normal practice of 20 minutes in communal centering prayer.
Whether you’re one of our regulars, yearning for something to fill your soul during this dark season, curious about any group that savors a good long chunk of quiet time together, or any combination of the above, please join us this Advent season for a special time of centering our prayers in the One who is already here … and who is also always on the way.
Weekly Themes
Gathering Meditations taken from Sundays and Seasons, Year C 2025
Advent 1
Monday, December 2, 12:00p AZ/MST, 11:00a PST, 1:00p CST
Gathering Meditation: We live in a world that trades in isolation and comparison, competition and fear.
We are waiting. We are waiting for the One who will turn the world around, causing us to live in connection and compassion, mutual support and liberation.
We pray: God, restore our hope in this time of watching and waiting.
Advent 2
Monday, December 9, 12:00p AZ/MST, 11:00a PST, 1:00p CST
Gathering Meditation: We live in a world that races for money and success, that worships busyness and productivity, that hoards and consumes.
We are waiting for the One who will turn the world around so we will know that there is enough, and that we are enough, so that we can be still and rest.
We pray: God, restore our hope in this time of watching and waiting.
Advent 3
Monday, December 16, 12:00p AZ/MST, 11:00a PST, 1:00p CST
Gathering Meditation: We live in a world that tries to hide from death by pursuing eternal youth.
We are waiting for the One who will turn the world around and bring new life from places we would call dead and worthless.
We pray: God, restore our hope in this time of watching and waiting.
Advent 4
Monday, December 23, 12:00p AZ/MST, 11:00a PST, 1:00p CST
Gathering Meditation: We live in a world that is broken and hurting.
We are waiting for the One who will turn the world around to heal and comfort all people.
We pray: God, restore our hope in this time of watching and waiting.
Closing Blessing:
May God give you strength and courage to keep watch for the One who is coming.
May God give us to one another so we remember we are not alone.
May God give us to the world to prepare the way for the coming kingdom.
In the name of the Mother/Father, the Son our Brother, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
About your facilitator
Sheri Brown is a retired special education teacher, news reporter, and video producer who has written liturgy, poems, and reflections for nearly 15 years. Her writing has been described as “sometimes raw but always real,” and as a “fresh perspective on old words”. Her writings, when she writes, are distributed to an email group under the heading, From the Edge of the Inside. (The reason for that obtuse self-descriptor became clear when she learned she is a healthy 4 during an Enneagram retreat at Spirit in the Desert this year.)
Sheri and spouse, ELCA pastor Kirk Anderson (retired), live near Prescott, AZ. With the kids grown and gone, Sheri and Kirk delight in being Airbnb Super Hosts. Sheri is also an avid DIY-er and a walking enthusiast. She walked her way to wellness in 2018 after losing mobility and identity from a physical assault while teaching. In addition to developing Tidings of Comfort & Joy, she has led contemplative retreats via zoom for both Advent and Lent in recent years and currently facilitates the monthly Spirited Book Club discussion for Spirit in the Desert (also on zoom).