Heaven & Nature Sing with Hannah Anderson

Heaven & Nature Sing with Hannah AndersonAdvent invites us to enter into the joy of the season through rhythms of remembrance, renewal, and waiting. But often, our very familiarity with the Advent story can leave us dulled to the miracle and joy of the season.In her book of Advent reflections, Heaven and Nature Sing, author Hannah Anderson invites us all into a fresh reading of the Christmas story by drawing together 25 meditations on the beauty of creation:“What I believe creation invites us back to is reorienting ourselves, not only to God, but to our environment and perhaps even to our own bodies and to ourselves. And so when we are giving our attention to the patterns and rhythms and cycles of creation it has the potential to be an access point for some deeper truths that maybe we've forgotten or we've overlooked.” - Hannah AndersonThis podcast is an edited version of a conversation recorded in fall of 2022. Learn more about Hannah Anderson.Episode outline00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Advent01:51 Introducing Hannah Anderson and Her Work02:28 The Inspiration Behind 'Heaven and Nature Sing'04:39 Attentiveness to Creation and Its Lessons07:57 The Link Between Caring for Creation and Others11:58 The Legend of the First Christmas Tree15:27 Jesus' Birth and the Concept of Habitat19:11 The Brutality and Honesty of Nature22:49 Reconnecting with Nature in Modern Times26:49 Practical Steps to Attune to Nature29:32 Closing Thoughts and Poem31:07 Final Farewell and Podcast InformationAuthors and books mentioned in the conversation:All That's Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment, by Hannah AndersonThe Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season, and Spirit, by Hannah AndersonHeaven and Nature Sing, by Hannah AndersonAn Immense World, by Ed YongRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Bright Evening Star, by Madeleine L’EnglePilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie DillardBabette’s Feast, by Isak DinesenA Christmas Carol, by Charles DickensThe Gift of the Magi and Two Thanksgiving Gentlemen, by O. HenryGod’s Grandeur: the Poems of Gerard Manley HopkinsRelated Conversations:Waiting on the Word, with Malcolm GuiteJoy to the World: Caroling Christmas and Christian Formation, with Keith GettyAdvent: The Season of Hope, with Tish Harrison WarrenTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society.