When it comes to inhabiting life fully, Mary is surely one of our greatest role models. ‘My soul magnifies the Lord,’ she sings in the Magnificat. Her spirited response to the Angel Gabriel’s announcement that she is to bear the son of God is rich in nuance, contradiction and paradox.

These very characteristics inspire Bishop Guli to make connections between the themes of Advent and her own experiences – and to invite us to do the same.

Bishop Guli’s forced exile from her homeland has echoes of the flight into Egypt; the murder of her brother Bahram during the Iranian Revolution of the slaughter of the innocents. She writes intriguingly of how angels continue speaking to us today; how fear can prevent us from living well in the present; how pain and loss can be transformed by the power of beauty.

Deepening its resonance, each chapter is linked to a piece of music, prompting us to consider: what are the enduring melodies that sustain us as the vibrant stories of our lives unfold?