"All Creation Waits" (Gayle Boss)

TITLE: All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings
AUTHOR: Gayle Boss
PUBLISHER: Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2016, (112 pages).

The season of Advent will be upon us very soon. While there are many themes based on the gospel narratives and the stories of nativity, this book is unique as it offers 25 meditations based on animal woodcuttings. Each chapter offers a description of a winter creature, its lifestyle, eating habits, habitat, unique behaviours, and special characteristics. The turtle prepares to go into hibernation in what is one of nature's wonderful survival strategies. The Muskrat knows exactly where the fresh food are when the ice cold winter freezes up. The Chickadee tweets happily amid the solemn winds of winter. The whitetail deer and her bucks huddle together for warmth. Honeybees survive by choreographing their wing movements to generate heat enough for the whole colony. Other animals include the frog, the racoon, the chipmunk, the black bear, the opossum, bat, turkey, and many more. There is something common in all of these animals. They prepare for the coming harsh winter. Waiting is not simply a virtue but a necessary survival tactic. With wild nature as their habitat, they are able to adjust their bodies to tackle the freezing weather. It is a mystery of how creation waits and sleeps out the dark and gloomy winter. Activities are reduced to the minimum so as to conserve heat. It is a time to hibernate.

Gayle Boss is a lifelong lover of animals and nature. She is a poet, a writer, and an avid naturalist. Graphic artist David Klein contributes one illustration for each chapter, bringing to life the very creature written about. The red fox on the front cover is from the chapter on the red fox, elegant and beautiful. I am amazed at the powers of observation by the author which really demonstrates her love for animals and nature. With great understanding of the animal and powers of observation, she is able to make the woodcuttings come alive with literary movement and imagination. Readers will find in each chapter a very insightful look about the nature of the animal, its eating habits, how it moves, its survival instincts, how it takes care of the young, and so on. After 24 chapters of descriptions of the wonders of each winter creature, the last chapter is what we happen to be waiting for: Christmas! It is a vivid display of all creation waiting for the revelation of God in Christ.

I must say that this is a very unique book to prepare ourselves for the advent. It gives me a fresh appreciation of the winter animals that exist in our backyard of backcountry. Some of them I have not even aware they exist! Yet, God knows each and every one of them.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

---

This book has been provided courtesy of Paraclete Press without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.