O Radiant Dawn

Splendor of eternal light, true rising Sun of Justice: O come! Come, give us light and warmth, for we sit in deepest darkness, where we dwell in the shadow of death.
 
I was on vacation. I woke up early. It was quiet in the way that only the desert can be quiet. Awesome! Looking out at the horizon over the endless expanse of the Judean Desert the sun was pushing its giant round body with its core of fire up into the sky. There was light, a new day! God said it was good.

A new day? There is nothing new under the sun, says Kohelet. History repeats itself. We have seen it all! Everything is sand, wind, vanity, futility, drudgery, misery, at its best monotonous sameness, daily routine for millions and billions of years! There is nothing new under the sun, says Kohelet.

Routine! God, I believe Kohelet has a point. After all, what am I doing all day long? I work, eat, sleep, pray, read, do business, look around, walk about. Is it not amazing that even in a sacred place like this we can crowd our monastic desert with countless trivialities?

How can I redeem the routine of my life? Even if I should try to spend my days only in silent adoration of your Holy Presence, would that solve the problem? I’m afraid, not. When I think of all the hours I have spent singing and reciting the Church’s official prayer, the days, hours and years I have spent before your holy altar when we celebrate the Eucharist, it becomes clear to me how much this too carries the spirit of daily routine. Even these sacred non-routine things belong ultimately to our routine.

If there is any path at all to approach you, God, it is through the very middle of our daily life.

We easily can lose sight of you in anything we do. Not even prayer, lectio divina or the quiet of the cloister can fully safeguard us from the danger of losing you. However, if it is true that we can lose you in everything then it must be also true that we can find you in everything. Routine is not part of life; it is the whole of life.

O Radiant Dawn, Jesus, Infinite God, Divine Light pierce the very heart of all things, great and small. Before you all that has been merely external and superficial is made true and genuine.  In your love, all our daily chores bring us home to you, where one day all things shall be well.