My five-year-old (I have a five-year-old! When did this happen?) recently informed me that he loves Christmas.

“Why is that?” I asked.

Pajama-clad, he twirled slowly in an office chair in our darkened living room, gazing at the lights from the Christmas tree. Then he sort of shook himself, sighed with contentment, and said, “Because the lights tell a story on the wall.”

It’s an old, old story, friends. But the magic of it never fades. After all, the word “gospel” comes from Old English: “god” (good) and “spel”–meaning news, or story, and of course also meaning enchantment. In this busy season we are in need of some good spells. We need to be enchanted, or re-enchanted, like a five-year-old in pajamas. We are likewise in need of having spells broken, spells of fear in a world that seems chaotic beyond all reason. The good news of Christmas–that God is with us in Jesus–works both ways. “Fear not,” said the angel to Mary, and the spell of powerlessness began to unravel. “Fear not” said the angel to the shepherds, and the spell of terror loosed its grip. “Fear not,” I whisper to my sons asleep in bed, to my own anxious self. And the spell of peace, of joy beyond reason, lays hold of our hearts.

God is here.

As I look ahead to this season and into 2016, I’m excited about what God is doing. Books, events, growing boys, local church ministry…it’s all good. But it’s easy in the busy-ness to slip back under the power of those old “spells.” I ask for your prayers in 2016.

Here are some highlights:

I’ve had some fun radio spots & podcasts for Advent lately: they can be found here. In what ways does sentimentality get in the way of the true meaning of Christmas?
It’s yet another Advent season to curl up with a good book and let it work a good spell on you, so I hope you’ll revisit Light Upon Light: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Advent, Christmas, & Epiphany. I’m still in awe of the poets and novelists whose works I had the great privilege to include.

Literary guide to prayer for Lent, Holy Week, & Eastertide (Jan 2016)

UPDATE: The third and final literary guide to prayer is HERE! Between Midnight & Dawn: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Lent, Holy Week, & Eastertide (Paraclete Press) completes the liturgical year in the series that includes At the Still Point and Light Upon Light. Signed copies make great Christmas gifts for the lit-geeks and former English majors in your life.
If you would be interested in joining the Book Launch Team for Between Midnight & Dawn (free review copy! author gratitude!), please email me your shipping address and list at least two ways you can help get the word out (Amazon & Goodreads reviews are great). Please also include your social media handles/links. sarah (at) saraharthur.com.
2016 takes me to two of my favorite writing conferences, the Festival of Faith & Writing at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI April 14-16, where you’ll see me doing stuff with the Redbud Writers Guild; as well as the Fredrick Buechner Writers Workshop at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ June 7-10, where I’ll lead the Advanced Writers Class. Can’t wait!
Stay tuned for updates on my forthcoming book with Brazos Press, The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us, co-authored with the amazing Erin Wasinger. Watch that girl: you knew her when…

Peace to you & yours this season and into 2016.