The Holy Work Happening Underground: How Advent Teaches Us to Prepare in Stillness

Advent is a season that teaches us how to live in the tension between what is and what could be. It invites us into the quiet, expectant posture of creation itself: the way the earth grows still while life below the surface gathers strength for renewal.
​
In winter, the mycelial networks beneath the forest floor quietly expand. The earthworms move deeper into the soil, slowing their metabolism. The dormant seeds of wildflowers lie in wait, needing the cold to prepare them for growth. None of this looks dramatic. But it is holy work, the slow, faithful preparation that allows life to rise again.

This year, I’ve been holding close the truth that Advent offers: stillness does not mean stagnation. Waiting is not the absence of work. Hope is not naïve; it is preparatory.

Stillness does not mean stagnation. Waiting is not the absence of work. Hope is not naïve; it is preparatory.

And when I look at the movement for creation justice, I see that same holy, subterranean work happening all around us.
​
In a year when protections for God’s creation were rolled back and environmental harms intensified, our community did not retreat. Instead, it rooted itself.

Beneath the headlines, beneath the noise, something powerful has been stirring.

Here at Creation Justice Ministries, we have felt that stirring in so many ways:

• In public witness, as Christians gathered in Washington, D.C., and across the country to pray, lament, and proclaim peace with God’s creation.
• In pulpits and classrooms, where more than 250 faith leaders were trained through EcoPreacher and Creation Justice Coaches to preach hope and courage in a climate-changed world.
• In congregations, where resources like Power of God and Truth, Healing, and Repair helped communities deepen their discipleship and root themselves in restorative practice.
• In resilience work, where local churches in Baltimore, Austin, Orlando, and so many other places work toward planting trees, restoring ecosystems, and strengthening their capacity to care for one another.
• In advocacy, as thousands of Christians spoke up to defend clean air, protect marine sanctuaries, and uphold the laws that safeguard God’s creation.​
  

Season of Creation Public Witness (Washington, DC)

Christian Leaders for Creation Justice Retreat (June 2025)

Avery post preaching at New Hope Camp for Earth Sabbath

None of this makes the nightly news. But like the root systems beneath frozen soil, it is strengthening us for what is coming. It is preparing us to meet the world’s pain with the light of Christ, a light Advent promises is already on its way.

So I find myself asking this Advent:
What strength is God stirring in us now?
What quiet preparation is happening in our congregations, in our communities, in the corners of our own hearts?

My prayer is that we enter this season with the humility of creation, willing to rest, willing to listen, and willing to be renewed so that we can rise with hope into the year ahead.

Below you’ll find ways to take action this month. May each step be part of the strength we are stirring up together.
With the hope of peace on earth for all creation,

​Avery Davis Lamb
Executive Director
Creation Justice Ministries

---