Dawnings

I am not a morning person and its rare for me to catch a sunrise by choice. But when I do, I'm reminded of the uniquely comforting, even powerful turn from night to day, as the sky and world wake. Perhaps this is why I love Zechariah's anticipation of Jesus' birth:

Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace. (Lk. 1:78-79)

To be met by dawn in our darkness, to have the path to peace lit for us -- a perfect, coming peace but also a step-by-step, daily walk -- this is God's tender mercy given to us in Jesus.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Zechariah's declaration seems to be rendered as a prayer in Psalm 143:8, a verse my dad shared with me this Christmas. "Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning," the psalmist pleas, "for in you I put my trust. Teach me in the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul."

Lilias Trotter shares her own dawn reflections in her 1899 diary, accompanied by a painting of a pale star on a luminous horizon:

The morning star is so perfectly marvellous these days. It hangs in the dawn like a great globe of silver fire. Of all the images of Christ it seems the one that is almost more than an image — it is so utterly like Him in its pure glory.

She goes on to relate her heart's longing for the promise -- "I will give him the morning star" (Rev 2:28) -- to those who wait in the nightwatch for Christ's appearing. From her accounts of life in Algiers, there certainly seemed to be plenty of waiting, through times of difficulty, obscurity, and slow progress. Perhaps this is why she paints and revels in her morning star at daybreak, all the brighter when it finally comes.

Illustration from Lilias Trotter’s diary,1899 © Arab World Ministries

At the dawning of this year, I pray you are receiving fresh tokens of God's tender mercy, His enduring love. As we've celebrated Jesus' humble entry into our world, I hope we also receive glimpses of His coming glory. May He be light in our darkness, illumination for our way, and lead us into the path of peace, wherever we find ourselves this new year.

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Image Credits:

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Lilias Trotter, 1899 journal, AWM/AMB, Box 17, Papers of the Algiers Mission Band, SOAS Library Special Collections