December 18: Dayspring From on High
♫ Music:
Day 21 - Saturday, December 18
Title: DAYSPRING FROM ON HIGH
Scripture: Luke 1:79; Isaiah 60:1-3,19-21
“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.”
Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.
Poetry:
On the Anniversary of my Baptism
by Thomas Merton
Certain waters are as blue as metal
Or as salt as sorrow.
Others wince like brass in the hammering sun,
Or stammer all over with tremors of shadow
That die as fast as the light winds
Whose flights surprise the promontories
And the marble bay.
Some are crowded everywhere, off-shore, with
purple coral
Between the fleets of light that founder in the
sand.
Others are full of yawls, or loud with launches,
Or sadder than the bitter smoke
Of tug and trawler, tramp and collier,
Or as grey as battle.
Oh! Since I was a baby in the Pyrenees,
When old St. Martin marked me for the cloister
from high Canigou,
How many deeps, how many wicked seas
Went to befriend me with a flash of white-caps
Louder than laughter in the wind and sun,
Or sluggered all our brown bows gunwhale-under
In their rowdy thunder––
Only to return me to the land.
Do you suppose that if the green Atlantic
Had ever cracked our brittle shell
And rifled all the cabins for their fruit of drunken
passengers,
Do you suppose my sins,
Once we were sorted and disposed forever
Along the shelves of that profound, unvisited
museum,
Would there have been immune,
Or learned to keep their coats of unreality
From the deep sea’s most patient candying?
The day You made the waters,
And dragged them down from the dividing islands
And made them spring with fish,
You planned to bless the brine out of the seas
That were to be my death.
And this is the ninth November since my world’s end
and my Genesis,
When, with the sting of salt in my dry mouth,
Cross-crowned with water by the priest,
Stunned at the execution of my old companion,
death,
And with the murder of my savage history,
You drowned me in the shallow font.
My eyes, swimming in unexpected infancy,
Were far too frail for such a favor:
They still close-kept the stone shell of their
empty sepulchre:
But, through they saw none, guessed the
new-come Trinity
That charged my sinews with His secret life.
DAYSPRING FROM ON HIGH
Light usually attracts my attention in its arrivals and departures—sunrise and sunset. But outside these moments of transition between night and day, I seldom consider light so much as assume it. I expect it to accommodate me, glowing in the background as merely another condition of my visibility. It is useful for my navigation; for choosing what I need or finding what is lost.
Luke and Isaiah, however, present light as more than an elemental power facilitating human experience. Light becomes the object of their focus and celebration because that light exists as the radiant character of God. Isaiah anticipates a time when the familiar sources of light—sun and moon—shall pass away to be replaced in the figure of the Lord, who shall be the “everlasting light.” The advent of the Lord’s glory not only promises to nourish creation, but to heal wounds of the soul and cleanse human history of sin and sorrow. Luke announces this through the benediction of Zacharias, whose song anticipates Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. The term “dayspring” here seems particularly evocative, treating the arrival of day as though light could flow like water, surging down from heaven.
Fixed in the person of Christ, light attains greater solidity; it seems more fixed and permanent. Today’s song jubilantly announces a similar insistence: the shining of Jacob’s star commands our attention not only through the power of the lyric image, but through persistent repetition. Different sections of the choir resound with the refrain again and again, sometimes beginning anew before a previous refrain has ended.
Both the poem by Thomas Merton and the painting by Nicora Gangi suggest similar visions by rendering light and water not only as solid, but almost confrontational. Merton’s poem begins with a jarring line: “Certain waters are as blue as metal.” The surprising comparison of water to metal is intensified by seemingly mismatched description. It’s not that the waters are as hard but as blue. This theme of “soft” elements becoming substantial and solid continues in images like “hammering sun,” and “marble bay.” These transformed landscapes reflect Merton’s own sense of metamorphosis; baptism has elementally changed who he is; how he sees the world and his place in it.
Similarly, in Gangi’s painting a star shines in the background at the top of the canvas—bright yet stately as hot white fades into rays of red and yellow. But this tidy emanation is eclipsed by an explosion of light that doesn’t so much illuminate the scene as it seems to burst toward the viewer; threatening to breach the frame of its art. This suggestion takes on additional peril through the impression of texture and shape in the shards of glory. Their luster is that of brass or gold, forged with strength and skill—reminiscent of Merton’s “hammering sun.” And though this light abides some semblance of order, the concentric circles seem to lose hold of themselves as they proceed further from their source, as though the sun were not merely shining, but rapidly spinning—flinging majesty to the far corners of creation.
Sunlight is, of course, not like this. We’d never go outside if it was. But in the domestic, common elements that compose our days, Gangi and Merton invite us to see with transformed eyes and spirit, and to remember that Christ is our Dayspring. In Advent we again try to cultivate this sense of sight so that we may come to see with Gerard Manley Hopkins that “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” And when Jesus comes again our night shall end forever.
Prayer:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that He may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with You and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Devotion Author:
Dr. Phillip Aijian
Adjunct Professor
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, poetry, and devotional writer selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Your Truth from the Great Congregation (Psalm 40:9)
Nicora Gangi
2012
Collage
About the Artist:
Nicora Gangi (b. 1952) is an American artist educated at the Hartford Art School, Montclair State College, and Syracuse University, where she was a professor of art for twenty-nine years. In 2010, she also taught for Gordon College in Orvieto, Italy. Gangi’s work has been featured in Artist Magazine, Pastel Artist International Magazine, Design Magazine, American Art Collector, and CMYK Magazine. In 2001, she was awarded the highly prized and honorable Harris Popular Award from the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, New York. She also received the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award in the summer of 2006. Gangi has lectured regionally and nationally as a visiting artist at colleges, universities, and artists’ guilds.
www.nicoragangi.com
About the Music:
“Behold a Star from Jacob Shining” from the oratorio Christus and the album Grand Christmas
Lyrics:
Behold a star from Jacob shining,
And a scepter from Israel rising,
To reign in glory over the nations.
Like some bright morning star is he,
The promise of the coming day,
Beyond the night of sorrow.
Break forth, O Light!
We, our joyful hearts uplifting with thanksgiving,
Hail the brightness of Thy rising.
About the Performers:
The Concordia Choir, under the direction of Dr. René Clausen, is widely considered one of the world’s premier undergraduate vocal ensembles. The seventy-two voice choir is a leader in interpreting and advancing the Lutheran choral tradition. The choir’s long and distinguished history dates back to its beginning in 1920. The group has performed in nearly every major concert hall in the United States, including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.
https://www.concordiacollege.edu/student-life/music-ensembles/choirs/the-concordia-choir/
Dr. René Clausen (b. 1953) is an American composer and conductor. Clausen is a Reuel and Alma Wije Distinguished Professor at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he directs the internationally renowned Concordia Choir. Described as “eloquent, subtle and thought-provoking,” Clausen’s music is known for its dramatic, emotional sweep, and highly sensitive approach to text setting. Clausen’s catalogue includes dozens of commissioned works for chorus, orchestra, chorus with orchestra, wind band, and the stage. Notable large format works include the 9/11 tribute MEMORIAL and the evening-length oratorio The Passion of Jesus Christ. In addition to composition, Clausen is increasingly well known as a guest conductor of the major literature for choir and orchestra. Clausen is the artistic director of the award-winning Concordia Christmas Concerts, which are frequently featured by PBS stations throughout the nation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Clausen
https://singers.com/choral/director//Rene-Clausen//
https://Reneclausen.com
About the Composer:
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist, and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family and although initially raised without religion, he was later baptized as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was recognized early as a musical prodigy and enjoyed early success in Germany and in his travels throughout Europe. He was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor, and soloist. His ten visits to England—during which many of his major works were premiered—form an important part of his adult career. Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music, and chamber music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and his String Octet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn
https://pragueclassicalconcerts.com/en/composers/mendelssohn
About the Lyricists:
The original German text for “Behold a Star from Jacob Shining” was compiled by Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen. “Es wird ein Stern aus Jacob aufgeh'n” is based on Numbers 24:17, with English words arranged by Henry Wilder Foote.
Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen (1791–1860), also known as Baron von Bunsen, was a German diplomat and scholar. He studied the religion, laws, language, and literature of the Teutonic races, and perfected his knowledge of the Scandinavian languages. He became the secretary to the Prussian envoy to the papal court. After his assignment to Rome, Bunsen went to England, where he was destined to spend the rest of his life. During his stay in England, Bunsen was selected by Queen Victoria as ambassador to the court of St. James. Literary work was, however, his main preoccupation during his retirement. He concentrated his efforts upon a translation of the Bible with commentaries. This work, Bibelwerk für die Gemeinde (Bible Work for the Church), was intended to be completed in 1862. It had occupied him for nearly thirty years, as the pinnacle of all his literary and intellectual energies, but he unfortunately died before he could finish it. Three volumes of the Bibelwerk were published at his death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Charles_Josias_von_Bunsen
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christian-Karl-Josias-Freiherr-von-Bunsen
Henry Wilder Foote (1875–1964) was a Unitarian minister who preached in congregations throughout the United States. He was an Associate Professor at Harvard Divinity School and served as secretary to the school’s faculty from 1914–1925.
https://uudb.org/articles/henrywilderfooteii.html
About the Poet:
Thomas Merton (1915–1968) was a Roman Catholic monk, poet, and prolific writer on spiritual and social themes and one of the most important American Roman Catholic writers of the twentieth century. After a year at the University of Cambridge, he entered Columbia University, where he earned both B.A. and M.A. degrees. Following years of agnosticism, he converted to Catholicism and entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. The Trappists are considered to be one of the most ascetic of the Roman Catholic monastic orders and it was there that Merton grew as a mystic, pursuing spiritual quests through his writing. Merton’s first published works were collections of poems: Thirty Poems (1944), A Man in the Divided Sea (1946), and Figures for an Apocalypse (1948). With the publication of the autobiographical Seven Storey Mountain (1948), he gained an international reputation. His early works are strictly spiritual, but his writings of the early 1960s tend toward social criticism, civil rights, pacifism, and nonviolence.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Merton
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Phillip Aijian
Adjunct Professor
Poet and Artist
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Phillip Aijian holds a Ph.D. in Renaissance drama and theology from UC Irvine, as well as an M.A. in poetry from the University of Missouri. He teaches literature and religious studies and has published in journals like ZYZZYVA, Heron Tree, Poor Yorick, and Zocalo Public Square.He lives in California with his wife and children.
https://www.phillipaijian.com/
https://californiospress.com/2020/02/02/write-to-me-an-interview-with-poet-phillip-aijian/