My mother loved Advent and Christmas. She decorated and baked. An Advent calendar was hung on the refrigerator door with magnets, and we took turns opening the cardboard doors each day. We lit the Advent candles, and we sang the hymns, carols, and songs of Christmas.

Later, as an adult, I learned more about the liturgical calendar. With that deeper understanding came a more nuanced view of the Seasons of Advent and Christmas. The ministers and wonderful people of North Broad Baptist Church in Rome, GA, and Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta (Buckhead), GA, introduced me to a worship deeply rooted in the liturgy and lectionary. And, as a dear friend and colleague remarked, “Once you go liturgical, it’s hard to go back.” The liturgical seasons became far more woven into the fabric of my life.

My mother’s death coincided with a change in employment and vocational focus. I was looking for ways to remain connected to my love of biblical scholarship, even though my academic work was almost entirely administrative. Mom had been a prolific writer, and she often submitted entries for the annual Advent devotional booklet published by her church. The first Advent following her death, I edited a group of those devotionals into a booklet published for family members as a way to remember her love of the Seasons. The next spring, unwilling to “give up” anything for Lent, I chose to “take on” writing a daily meditation/musing, using the daily lectionary reading and beginning an email distribution list that has continued to grow. When some on my email list asked if I was planning to repeat those meditations for Advent, it seemed a natural commitment to undertake. Fifteen years later, I am still writing daily meditations/musings on the lectionary readings during the Seasons of Lent and Advent.

Sometimes the daily readings spend less time with Jesus’ first Advent than I would like. This volume of meditations and musings on the words to familiar hymns, carols, and songs we hear between Thanksgiving and Epiphany grew out of my desire to do something a little different one year.

May the words of these songs and my meditations help us all prepare our hearts and lives for the coming of Jesus the Christ!Dr. Steven M. Sheeley is a Higher Education consultant, scholar, and musician. He retired as Senior Vice President with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, having served SACSCOC from 2008 to 2022. Prior to 2008, he was a college professor and administrator for over 20 years.

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A native of Springfield, Missouri, Sheeley holds degrees in Political Science and English (BS Ed; Missouri State University), Theology (MDiv; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), and New Testament (PhD; The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). He completed further study at Indiana University and Yale University, exploring narrative and literary criticism.

Sheeley is the author of Narrative Asides in Luke-Acts, published by Sheffield Academic Press (1992) and re-issued by Bloomsbury Press (2015). He is also the coauthor of two books with Robert N. Nash, Jr.: The Bible in English Translation: An Essential Guide (1997) and Choosing a Bible: A Guide to Modern English Translations and Editions (1999), both published by Abingdon Press. He is the author of numerous articles, reviews, and essays, and he has edited three scholarly monographs.

Dr. Sheeley served on both the Editorial Board and the Executive Committee of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion, and he is past-President of the Southeastern Region of the NABPR. Sheeley was a member of the Literary Aspects Group of the Society of Biblical Literature and Treasurer for Theta Alpha Kappa, the national honor society for religion and theology. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi national honor society and a lifetime member of Theta Alpha Kappa.

In addition to his consulting work – primarily in the areas of accreditation and institutional effectiveness – Sheeley is a classically-trained singer. His musical interests also extend to multiple instruments, including the hammered dulcimer, the mountain dulcimer, the ukulele, and the electric bass guitar.

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