Honest, Simple Souls: An Advent Meditation with Charlotte Mason

by Anne E. White

In the church year, the long season of post-Pentecost, post-everything-else is drawing to a close. The days are shorter, and the sky is grey with threats of snow. December is almost here, and Advent is about to begin.I invite you to observe the season through an Advent-themed study of Charlotte Mason’s fourth volume, Ourselves Book II. There are also readings for the Twelve Days of Christmas, drawn from her essay “The Eternal Child.”

Genres: Christmas, Christian, Christian Non Fiction, Education, Christianity, Devotional, Nonfiction

55 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 13, 2020

Reviews

[ladydusk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy Advent reading. I've read Hallelujah by Cindy Rollins for a number of years now. Anne's really lovely devotional will be added to the "always reads."

This book is thoughtful, engaging, and practical. It helps the reader to see how the incarnation of Jesus Christ affects our everyday living with and service to other people.

Stupendous. I can't give it enough stars.

Jan 2023. Yup.

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected a lot; this book delivered more

These readings are so simple and yet so profound, I will be reading them for years to come and during Lent. Anne has brought her great mind and even subtle, wry humor to this excellent volume.

[Wendi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sweet, encouraging but also motivating gem of a book. I read it faster than it deserves because I wanted to quickly post a review. I am looking forward to rereading at a more measured pace.
Laid out as a gentle advent devotional reading/meditation in conjunction with selections from Ourselves , book 2, by Charlotte Mason, this is not burdensome or overwhelming. It is also not shallow.
Highly recommended.

I had just finished C.S. Lewis's Great Divorce in the midst of this, and I found them well matched companion pieces. It might be just where I am in my journey, but maybe you will also find them a good pairing.

[Mary Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!! I finished it, but will continue to read to my children, each day until epiphany. It is a wonderful advent to epiphany devotional book that I would like to revisit every year.
Thank you, Anne White.


Update:
Second read: I still love this book, maybe even more than last year. It is convicting and encouraging. There is so much packed into each reading, with recommendations to act upon. It is a joy!

[Bethanyanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this daily meditation book. It was the perfect blend of inspiring ideas and practical implementation.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely WONDERFUL, encouraging and sometimes convicting little book this is. I look forward to digging back in again for Advent this year. Though it doesn't have to be read in season. Thank you, Anne, you have honored both Charlotte Mason and our glorious Creator in this beautiful book.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, too, do honest, simple souls who bear affliction willingly, or who live their appointed lives with the sense that they are appointed. All of these ways of giving praise we recognise and bow before; but the duty would seem to pass us by as incompetent persons. We are not angels, we carry no harps. But the duty of praise is not for occasional or rare seasons; it waits at our doors every day. — Charlotte Mason

Anne White's Advent meditation is part commentary, part exhortation, part encouragement, part travel guide. Above all, it is gentle and it is nourishing.

I didn't read the selections from CM's writings, but got the gist from the quotes included or from Anne White's narration. I often find Charlotte Mason's nineteenth century diction difficult to construe: What does that mean? White's words help in comprehension and her applications don't heap on the stacks of duties of the season.

I appreciate books that add to my TBR list. This one did. And I'm so grateful the book didn't end on Christmas Day but continued up to Epiphany.

My favorite quote made me smile: As someone who has lived next door to a dollar store, I am well aware of the lure of amazing bargains. Kindred!!

[Gina Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne White is one of the Advisory Board for AmblesideOnline and in this advent through epiphany book she takes passages from book 2 of Charlotte Mason’s Ourselves and applies them to Christmas. She also has little suggestions for things to do each day in the spirit of the season. The book was fantastic and I’ll definitely be reading it again next year.

[Toniette Giesbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Anne White takes lofty ideas and crystallizes them into practical ideas that can be easily understood by any overwhelmed mother (or anybody else!). Not just for Christmas, but can be read any time of year.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly what the title implies “An Advent Meditation with Charlotte Mason”. Each daily reading is short but rich. I loved that the “In the spirit of the season” suggestions were so practical. Lovely little book that I will be rereading next year.

“The Magi could not remain in their own country while the Star beckoned them: they loaded those refractory camels and set out through “the way deep in the weather sharp.”Why? In honor of the Creator, who had endowed them with particular treasures, but who had also given them the will to find and worship the Incarnate Son.
It may indeed be the worst time of the year for such a journey. Isn’t December everyone’s busiest time? Why start the study now, when there’s so much to do?
Because there’s so much to do.”

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one I’d like to read again, with more time to read all the ‘Ourselves’ selections, and hopefully with a group of friends to understand the bits that are above my head.
“What do we see when we look out of our adult eyeballs, listen with our own ears? Do we have any memorized words of beauty? …If the view is too tedious or depressing to encourage joy, do we have some stored-up inner landscapes that might suffice instead?”

[Lmichelleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still have a few more days worth of readings left, but I must write and say what a tremendous delight reading this book has been this advent. Anne White writes with such high ideals, with such knowledge of human nature, with such humor, I am cut deep with her insights, always in a good way. I laughed a lot out loud when reading this book, and teared up more than a couple times. This book was a great partner with which to face the end of a challenging year.

[Julia Mederich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

I’m already looking forward to reading this book again during the next Advent. It really got me thinking of the season with my family and prepared my heart for Christmas.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delight to read during Advent and very serendipitous that it was done going into reading Ourselves next year with the CM bookclub because having read most of Ourselves previously I see it in a new way and I love it! Her insights were simple but convicting. It was a beautifully quiet read that I would recommend to everyone. I finished it prior to the 12 days of Christmas being over because I didn't realize it and needed it for my 5x5 challenge.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlotte Mason quotes entwined with Christmas mediations, I love it. I’ve owned this book for a few years but things always get busy and I’ve never quite finished it until this year (I read ahead and finished it a couple days early). I love that it goes all the way through the 12 days of Christmas as that’s always a great time to read and contemplate.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect Advent devotional for the year we finished reading CM’s Ourselves. Thank you Summer 💜

[Kay Pelham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I promise to write here (my 2nd year)

[Jennie McClellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this one for Advent-Epiphany. Thoughtful insights and meditations taken from Charlotte Mason’s writings. I especially enjoyed the “spirit of the season” suggestions each day. I will add this to my yearly Advent readings.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

These Advent meditations have quickly become part of my seasonal rhythm. Since 2021 it's part of my personal morning reading during Advent, along with reading a poem from Laura Merzig Fabrycky's "Give Me The Word."

[Lauren Fee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful Advent devotion. I enjoy how Anne finds a beautiful balance between spiritual meditation and practical incarnate application. This is one I hope to revisit in subsequent advent seasons.

[Beth Vanderwier · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely, thoughtful book of advent reflections. It enriched the season for me.

[Shanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not have loved this more. Day after day the entries hit me right where they needed to. Now I really really want to read Ourselves.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find Anne's style a bit difficult to connect with. Good thoughts but I find her style scattered.

[Shanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

2023 I only made it about halfway through this Advent but I loved what I read and I'm excited to read it again!

2024 I was hit or miss again this year but it's a fantastic short read.

2025 Wonderful. I loved celebrating the 12 days of Christmas for the first time.