Advent In The Real World by Martha Porter

Advent is the Christian church’s “new year,” the time when the liturgical cycle begins again, and we are encouraged to hear the stories again as if for the first time. At the same time that something new is being urged upon us, many people cling with both fondness and weariness to traditions–family and religious–that govern this time of year. This collection of reflections invites you to take just a few moments in each days of Advent to suspend doing in favor of being–to discern what newness you might find in your heart in the midst of the familiar.

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Martha Porter is a graduate of Candler School of Theology at Emory University, with a focus on pastoral counseling and the role of language in the formation of self. She trained at the Pastoral Psychotherapy Institute and worked at the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy, both in Chicago. A Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counseling, Martha’s first career was in education. She holds a doctorate in education and has taught math from 8th grade to graduate level statistics in college. She and her husband, Peter Ray, also an ordained minister, continue to lead the Contemporary Theology class at the Church of the Incarnation in Highlands, NC.