A Shelter in the Shadows: Journaling through Fear, Pain, Hope and Joy in Advent’s Holy Darkness

An online program with Debie Thomas

​​Thursday, December 3, 2026, from 6:30 -8:30 p.m. U.S./Eastern

$50 includes a program recording

Register Here

“Those of us who wish to draw near to God should not be surprised when our vision goes cloudy, for this is a 
sign that we are approaching the opaque splendor of God. If we decide to keep going beyond the point where 
our eyes or minds are any help to us, we may finally arrive at the pinnacle of the spiritual journey toward God, 
which exists in complete and dazzling darkness.”
--Barbara Brown Taylor, “Learning to Walk in the Dark”

About this offering

Advent is a season of filtered light and deep shadow.  It is a season of waiting, hoping, resting, and yearning. In many of the world’s spiritual traditions, the long nights of winter are a richly resonant time. A time of painful not-yets. A time of tearful letting go. A time of dying in order to live. In the fertile darkness of hardened soil, a seed prepares to burst into colorful life. In the soft, nurturing shadows of a woman’s womb, a baby forms and grows. 

And in our own lives? What does it mean to find shelter when the lights go dim and our vision becomes cloudy? How might our experiences of suffering, waiting, doubting, and hungering become sacred “compost”  for a fuller, more vibrant, and more deeply examined life? How might we illuminate the holy darkness?

In this two-hour journaling program, we will find creative and healing ways to write from the shadows of human experience. Using a variety of writing prompts and techniques, we will wrap language around the numinous, seeking -- not to eliminate the painful places in our lives -- but to explore the wisdom, beauty and hope that shadow offers. This offering is open to anyone who journals (or aspires to journal!) as a spiritual practice.  All you need is your favorite pen and notebook, a quiet place to work, and the courage to join a community of fellow writers as we dwell together in shadow and seek the light.

About the presenter

Debie Thomas is the author of “Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories, and “A Faith of Many Rooms: Inhabiting  a More Spacious Christianity.”  She has been a columnist and contributing editor for “The Christian Century,” and is an ordained Episcopal priest, currently serving as curate at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, California. Debie holds a Masters in English Literature from Brown University, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from The Ohio State University, and a Masters in Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.