O come, O Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
For this Antiphon I relfected on John 8:12 where Jesus says "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life." As I prayed over this passage I immediately thought of the Advent wreath. The whole purpose of the Advent wreath is to show how our lives get brighter the more we allow Christ to enter into our life. Because, as our Lord tells us, we will never be in darkness when we choose to follow Christ.
But this light doesn't just show up out of nowhere...we need to be vigilent and look for the light. Our prayer and the way we life our life must be properly ordered so that we can find the light of Christ easier. Right praise & worship (please note I am speaking of Orthodoxy...not Christian rock) is what guides us to the light (although Christian rock can guide us as well...but not in the same way an orthodox lifestyle can).
Some may think that this is just "nice language" or a "good metaphore" to describe the importance of Jesus in your life but those people don't understand what this light is. We practice orthodoxy so that we may be guided to the eschatological light...the light of Heaven where we will be in full communion with God. It's important to remember that we get to this light by properly praising & worshiping almighty God. And how do we properly praise him? By loving him, The Lord our God, with all our heart, mind, and soul. And by loving our neighbor as ourself.
O Dayspring, brightness of eternal Light and Sun of Justice: come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Amen.
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