I was raised in the country, far away from the glare of city lights. It’s dark in the country, real dark. Some nights, bereft of moonlight, are pitch black dark. It’s no exaggeration to say that you can’t see your hand in front of your face at night in the country.
Light and darkness are predominant themes in Scripture. “God is light,” John emphatically declares, “and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1.5). Darkness represents everything opposed to God and serves as a biblical metaphor for evil, sin, and spiritual blindness. Our focus today is the fifth of the seven Great Antiphons, “O Dayspring.” It’s also translated as morning star, the brightest star to announce the break of day. Dayspring first appears in the Bible when God asks Job, “Have you commanded the morning since your days began or directed the Dayspring to know its place?” (Job 38.12). The prophet Zechariah heralds Christ’s birth with the words, “The Dayspring from on high has visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace” (Luke 1.78-79). Jesus announces in Revelation, “I am the Root and Offspring of David and the bright Morning Star” (Rev. 22.16). The coming of Christ signals a glorious new day in salvation history. Christ expels darkness and brings everything to light. Perhaps that’s why we resist Christ’s light, as we don’t want our darkness exposed. December 21st marks the Winter Solstice, the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. My place of residence will have nine and a half hours of sunlight, nearly two hours less of light than the summer solstice. What better time to celebrate Christ’s coming? On the day when the sun is lowest in the sky, we celebrate the coming of Christ’s light into the darkness of our world. Come, O Dayspring. We join in praying: