Breakpoint – "Advent Poetry"

Host: John Stonestreet
Guest Contributor: Dr. Glenn Sunshine
Date: December 9, 2025

Overview

This episode of Breakpoint, hosted by John Stonestreet and featuring Dr. Glenn Sunshine, focuses on the significance of poetry—especially Advent and Christmas poetry—in cultivating a deeper understanding of the season. Dr. Sunshine explores why poetry is central to the Christian worldview, how modern culture often neglects it, and recommends Malcolm Guite’s anthology Waiting for the Word as a guide to recovering poetry’s spiritual depth during Advent.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Biblical and Historical Value of Poetry

• [00:09] John Stonestreet introduces the topic, noting that about a third of the Bible—including books like Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon—is poetry.
• [00:23] Dr. Glenn Sunshine emphasizes that poetry "is important to God. The longest book in the Bible is a book of poems, and the prophetic books are full of poetry as well."

Modern Disregard for Poetry

• Dr. Sunshine laments modern America's analytical, "left-brained" approach, which values literal meaning and neglects metaphor, symbolism, and poetry:
  • "Metaphor, symbolism and poetry are foreign to our ways of thinking and so we don't tend to read or appreciate poetry." ([00:35])
• He warns that this mindset robs us of the ability to "see the world around us in new and fresh ways." ([00:46])
• Invokes Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Poetry allows us "to get past the film of familiarity... and to see things as they really are."

Advent Poetry: A Route to Spiritual Renewal

• Poetry surrounding Advent and Christmas "is a particularly valuable way to get past both the commercialization of the holiday and the sometimes too familiar and sentimental images we have of the Nativity." ([01:01])
• Advent poetry enables believers to access the deeper truth and wonder of the Incarnation.

Malcolm Guite and Waiting for the Word

• Dr. Sunshine introduces Malcolm Guite:
  • "Guyte is a poet, an Anglican priest, a chaplain at Girton College, Cambridge, and a rock'n'roller. He is particularly interested in the intersection between religion and the arts..." ([01:20])
• Recommends Waiting for the Word: A Poem a Day for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany:
  • Includes Guite’s own sonnets as well as works by George Herbert, John Donne, Edmund Spenser, John Keats, Tennyson, Chesterton, Lucy Shaw, and others.
  • Covers various moods and verse styles, offering "an overview of different types of English poetry." ([01:45])
• Distinctive feature: Each poem comes with commentary that links it to Advent themes and explains poetic techniques
  • "He helps us to understand not just the poems, but what poetry itself is." ([02:02])

The Deeper Purpose of Poetry

• Dr. Sunshine discusses a common educational failing:
  • "We may learn about other poetic devices and techniques, but we often don't see that all these things are in service of the meaning of the poem, which comes to us obliquely rather than in a straightforward, literal way." ([02:15])
• Asserts that poetry lets us "see beyond the surface into the meaning embedded in the world around us and in our own lives and experiences." ([02:30])
• Connects this to scriptural examples:
  • "The psalms point to the natural world and find spiritual truth in it. Jesus' parables tell us that there are spiritual implications to everything from sowing seeds to baking bread." ([02:45])

Advent Poetry’s Spiritual Value

• Argues that poetry can help us "recover a more sacramental vision of the world" and truly grasp the Incarnation's mystery anew.
• It offers new perspectives and breaks us out of the "well-trodden paths that we have followed every year." ([03:09])

Encouragement to Engage with Poetry

• Waiting for the Word starts on December 1 but is easy to catch up with, offering an accessible entry into Advent poetry.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dr. Glenn Sunshine [00:23]:
  "Poetry is important to God. The longest book in the Bible is a book of poems, and the prophetic books are full of poetry as well."

• Dr. Glenn Sunshine [00:46]:
  "Good poetry helps us see the world around us in new and fresh ways, to get past the film of familiarity, as poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge put it, and to see things as they really are."

• Dr. Glenn Sunshine [01:01]:
  "Poetry surrounding Advent and Christmas is a particularly valuable way to get past both the commercialization of the holiday and the sometimes too familiar and sentimental images we have of the Nativity."

• Dr. Glenn Sunshine [02:30]:
  "Unlike our normal ways of viewing the world, poetry helps us see beyond the surface into the meaning embedded in the world around us and in our own lives and experiences. This is the great value of poetry."

• Dr. Glenn Sunshine [03:09]:
  "Poetry can help get past our habitual ways of looking at Christmas and open new dimensions of what the Incarnation means."

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:09] – Introduction to the importance of poetry in Scripture
• [00:23] – Dr. Glenn Sunshine on poetry and culture
• [01:01] – The spiritual benefits of Advent poetry
• [01:20] – Introduction to Malcolm Guite and his works
• [01:45] – Overview of Waiting for the Word anthology
• [02:02] – The value of poetic commentary
• [02:30] – The deeper function of poetry in worldview formation
• [03:09] – How Advent poetry renews our vision of Christmas

Conclusion

Dr. Glenn Sunshine’s reflection encourages Christians to rediscover the transformative power of poetry—especially during Advent. Engaging with poetry and poets like Malcolm Guite offers not just a richer experience of Christmas, but a model for seeing the world with sacramental wonder, moving us beyond sentimentality and commercialization to the mystery at the heart of the Incarnation.