Simply Wait: Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent [Perfect Paperback]

Pamela C. Hawkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007

Simply Wait is a resource that individuals and small groups can use to help them focus, rest, and renew
spiritually. For the four weeks of Advent, participants focus on a graceful, grace-filled single word and
simple prayer. Readings for each week offer creative reflections rooted in scripture and engaging questions
that stimulate anticipation of a meaningful Christmas season.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Prepared or not, we are signed up for the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas marathon and will hurtle toward the
finish line. But there is an alternate route. Enter these pages, savor the words they hold out to you, and you
will experience deep quietude and welcoming spaciousness. Follow the guidance, and you will arrive on
Christmas Day wrapped in the peace that is not of this world. --John Mogabgab, Editor, Weavings Journal

About the Author

Pamela Hawkins serves as the associate pastor of Belle Meade United Methodist Church in Nashville. She was formerly associate director of the Duke Center for Excellence in Ministry at Duke Divinity School in
Durham. Prior to that, Hawkins served with Upper Room Ministries as Associate Editor of Weavings: A
Journal for the Christian Spiritual Life.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Upper Room (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0835899179
• ISBN-13: 978-0835899178
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #690,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pamela C. Hawkins is Associate Pastor at Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Before joining the ministry staff at Belmont, she was appointed managing editor of Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life, a publication of The Upper Room. Prior to that, Hawkins served in other local church ministries in Tennessee, and as associate director of the Duke Center for Excellence in Ministry at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. Hawkins received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Duke University with an emphasis in linguistics, a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and a Doctor of Ministry in Christian Spirituality from Columbia Theological Seminary. She lives in Nashville with her husband Ray, where she spends her free time writing, gardening, and teaching about spiritual practices of prayer, justice, and contemplation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful and good for a group, November 18, 2009

By 

Laura Young (Nashville, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Simply Wait: Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent (Perfect Paperback)

This book was used for an adult Sunday School class and was very useful. Each session had clear guidelines and goals, with accessible information, easily adaptable to the several different ways we used it. Very worthwhile!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly What I was Looking For, November 5, 2011

By 

kindred spirit (God's Country) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Simply Wait: Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent (Perfect Paperback)

I wanted an Advent devotional that would make me slow down and think about what Christmas is all about. I like many can get caught up in the gifts and decorations and going here and there. I want this year to be different to be about thankfulness in the one true gift Jesus.

I have just looked through the book and it is going to be just that for me. Come the end of the month I will be using it everyday. I am looking forward to it with great anticipation. That is the first word that you are asked to think about. What does it bring to mind about Christmas.

God speaks in a still small voice and unless we get quite enough to hear it what a huge loss for us. So I plan to cultivate stillness.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for Groups that Are Open to Sharing, December 19, 2011

By 

Paul Q. Kucera (Central Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Simply Wait: Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent (Perfect Paperback)

We used this book for a small group reading/discussion. The book is very well-organized, well thought out, and very concise. This is not an especially time-consuming book. The major obstacle our group encountered was that several in the group did not write down any reactions or thoughts to the prompts at the start of each chapter, ditto for the daily Scripture readings, so our weekly discussions didn't seem to take us very far. In other words, this book can work very well for groups looking to share reactions and thoughts in a conversational structure, but it may be less rewarding for groups that are expecting a sort of "lesson" and "leader" structure.

The prayer practices discussed at the end of each chapter may be the best "take aways" in the book.

There appears to be a typo for the concluding question for week three: it repeats the question from week two, but it's easy enough to work around that.