Bette Dickinson: Making Room in Advent

"It’s okay to acknowledge that I have human limits and I can’t do it all." — Bette Dickinson

Bette Dickinson talks with us about observing Advent when schedules are full, the spiritual power of art, and the joy of embracing our human limits.

Let me invite you into a conversation with Bette Dickinson, artist and author of Making Room in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder. In this beautiful new book, Bette invites readers into her personal reflections about Advent and the Christmas story through words and through printed images of her own original paintings. I loved talking with Bette about the way art can lead us into places of spiritual transformation, about the creative work that happens within all of us, and about the complex nature of motherhood and pregnancy in literal and metaphorical terms. Bette offers a real sense of grace and realism as we talk about Advent in the context of a busy December, and her words on the gift of embracing our human limits speak clearly to the lives of academics. Our conversation is full of delight and depth, and I think you’ll enjoy listening in.

We’re sharing this interview with you well before Advent begins on November 27. Advent always sneaks up on me, so we wanted to release this episode as an invitation for you to give some thought to the way you’d like to observe the season of Advent. Bette’s new book is an excellent choice for this year. We’ll also link to some other ideas in the show notes, and you can watch for a special set of Advent reflections we’ll be publishing at The Well in the first week of Advent, a new offering that you can enjoy in either audio or written form.​

So jump right in! We're so glad you're here.

You can listen on iTunes or at The Women Scholars and Professionals Podcast. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

Further resources for this interview:

• Making Room in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder by Bette Dickinson
• BetteDickinson.com
• Bette has some Advent-themed gifts for sale at her shop, including the ornament shown at the top of this article.
  
   
• The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
• Bette mentions that she is an Enneagram Three. Here is some information about the Enneagram in general, and particular information about Enneagram Type Three.
• Contemplative Vision: A Guide to Christian Art and Prayer by Juliet Benner (and here is the blog post where Bette talks about this book)
• Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life by Makoto Fujimura
• "We become what we behold." — William Blake
• "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." — 2 Corinthians 3.18 (New International Version)
• The excerpt read at the end of the podcast was from page 38 of Making Room in Advent.
• Text WONDER to 55444 for Bette's free offering.
• Follow Bette on Instagram.
• Limited time offer from InterVarsity Press: enjoy this code for 30% off Making Room in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder when you buy it at ivpress.com by December 6, 2022. Just use the code: WELL22

Photo by Bette Dickinson. Image from Making Room in Advent by Bette Dickinson. Copyright (c) 2022 by Bette Dickinson and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com