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A review by libdebbie
Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent by Enuma Okoro
5.0
This book was part of the online Advent study at my church this year, and while I didn't really participate in the discussions, I really enjoyed this book. The focus is primarily on Elizabeth and Zechariah and their experiences of barrenness, unanswered prayers, preparation and living with God's promises, and community. Okoro, in the reflections for each day, takes the scripture reading and ties it in with reflecting on our own experiences. Each day's reading ends with a short prayer. Each week ends with a day of personal reflection with some thought questions to ponder and a prayerful challenge activity.
While I liked pretty much all the readings, one thing I found particularly interesting was her take on Zechariah being struck silent for the entirety of Elizabeth's pregnancy. While, traditionally, you hear of that happening because Zechariah "dares" to doubt what the angel tells him, Okoro posits how very human his reaction is, in light of the incredible pronouncement of the angel, and how perhaps the period of silence was really a blessing allowing Zechariah to really sit with and ponder the news and prepare, internally, for it to happen. I really liked that perspective.
While it also would have been neat to be able to have discussion in a small group or something with this book, I thought it was also great just to do as a personal study. I'll definitely be looking up other works by Okoro.
While I liked pretty much all the readings, one thing I found particularly interesting was her take on Zechariah being struck silent for the entirety of Elizabeth's pregnancy. While, traditionally, you hear of that happening because Zechariah "dares" to doubt what the angel tells him, Okoro posits how very human his reaction is, in light of the incredible pronouncement of the angel, and how perhaps the period of silence was really a blessing allowing Zechariah to really sit with and ponder the news and prepare, internally, for it to happen. I really liked that perspective.
While it also would have been neat to be able to have discussion in a small group or something with this book, I thought it was also great just to do as a personal study. I'll definitely be looking up other works by Okoro.