The Dawn
Luke 1:57-80
“The morning sun from heaven will rise upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
When John the Baptist is born, his father Zechariah bursts into a song of praise. John will merely pave the way, but when Jesus comes “the morning sun from heaven will rise upon us.” It’s a brilliant image of darkness vanquished.
But when will that dawn appear? When will this darkness end?
A rabbi once asked his students how they could tell when night had ended and day was on its way back.
“Is it when you can see an animal in the distance, and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?”
“No,” answered the rabbi.
“Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance, and tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?”
“No.”
“Well then,” the students demanded, “when is it?”
“It is when you look on the face of another human being, and see that he or she is your brother or sister. Because if you cannot do that, then no matter what time it is, it is still night.”*
The sun we long for, in other words, must rise in our hearts. That is where the light must penetrate. The true light, “the morning sun from heaven,” will always reveal Christ in the face of someone you aren’t so sure about, maybe even your enemy. But if we can see—gasp!—a brother, a sister, then the sun has truly risen upon us.
Prayer: Sun of Righteousness, shine within us; illumine the eye of the heart and we will see your glory and your face in the face of all people. Amen.
*One Hundred Wisdom Stories, ed. Margaret Silf
If you’d like to receive each day’s reflection in your inbox, click here.
I love that. I needed that.
What a wonderful world it would be if we could celebrate our differences and remember that we are all God’s family!Then the Sun would shine in every heart. A perfect world for imperfect people.A dream?Let it start with me. Another request to add to my prayers.
“It is when you look on the face of another human being, and see that he or she is your brother or sister. Because if you cannot do that, then no matter what time it is, it is still night.”
I really like the form in which the above message is expressed. For quite a while now this message, from a variety of sources, has been showing up in my conscious awareness. So far, it never appears in the same form but the message remains consistent. On an intellectual level I get it but on a practical level; truly seeing another as my spiritual sister or brother is impossible to do. Unless…
“The sun we long for, in other words, must rise in our hearts. That is where the light must penetrate. The true light, ‘the morning sun from heaven’ will always reveal Christ in the face of someone you aren’t so sure about, maybe even your enemy. But if we can see—gasp!—a brother, a sister, then the sun has truly risen upon us.” Thank you for this David. You have addressed the “unless.”
I have a couple more thoughts about this…
The Sun never stops extending its Light nor can anything stop the Sun from extending its Light. I believe that there is absolutely no one that isn’t completely full of the Sun’s light. A light that is exactly the same from person to person. How come then, is it so difficult to see this Light in others and and within myself?
Well, clouds, while they cannot stop the Sun from extending its Light can move in between the Sun and myself and others and block out the Sun’s light from our view. So then, in our case, what is it that’s acting as a cloud blocking out the Light? I suspect that it’s the personality that we so completely identify with as being what and who we are that’s the culprit.
I suppose you know that the word personality is derived from the Greek word persona, which means a mask. The personality is not the person. It’s more the “myself” we identify as being. It’s not the Self (Soul) we really are. For me to be able to see another as the true Light they are, I have to step out of my personality (step out of the myself concept) and look beyond their personality (the mask they’re wearing). This takes practice and the helping hands of Jesus to accomplish. And Jesus is so very happy to help if we just ask him.