I Am The Light of the World

I see your world in light that shines behind me,
Lit by a sun whose rays I cannot see,
The smallest gleam of light still seems to find me
Or find the child who’s hiding deep inside me.
I see your light reflected in the water,
Or kindled suddenly in someone’s eyes,
It shimmers through the living leaves of summer,
Or spills from silver veins in leaden skies,
It gathers in the candles at our vespers
It concentrates in tiny drops of dew
At times it sings for joy, at times it whispers,
But all the time it calls me back to you.
I follow you upstream through this dark night
My saviour, source, and spring, my life and light.

-- Malcolm Guite (1954- ) Anglican poet, priest, theologian, and musician 

Scripture Reference: John 8:12

Images: Lux Nova (2011) by Bernd Nestler, German, window made of float glass, treated twice with ceramic enamels, platinum mirror surface, and gold dust, at St. Christoffel Cathedral, Roermond, the Netherlands.

Prayer for Love and Light

O Lord,
in the name of Jesus Christ your Son our God,
give us that love which can never cease,
that will kindle our lamps but not extinguish them,
that they may burn in us and enlighten others.

O Christ, our dearest Savior,
kindle our lamps,
that they may evermore shine in your temple,
that they may receive unquenchable light from you
that will enlighten our darkness,
and lessen the darkness of the world.

Lord Jesus, we pray,
give your light to our lamps,
that in its light
the most holy place may be revealed to us
in which you dwell as the Eternal Priest,
that we may always see you,
desire you, look on you in love,
and long after you;
for your sake. 

Amen.


-- collect of the early Church, sixth century

A Prayer for Spiritual Illumination

Hear us,
never-fading Light, Lord our God,
our only Light, Fountain of light,
Light of your angels,
thrones, dominions, principalities, powers,
and of all intelligent beings.

You created the light of your saints.

May our souls be your lamps,
kindled and enlightened by you.

May they shine and burn with the truth,
and never go out in darkness and ashes.

May we be your house,
shining from you, shining in you.

May we shine without fail.
May we ever worship you.

In you may we be kindled and not be extinguished.

Being filled with the splendor
of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
may we shine forth inwardly.
May the gloom of sins be cleared away,
and the light of constant faith abide within us.

--adapted from the Mozarabic Sacramentary, 7th Century Spain/Portugal

There Is A Light Within You

I've said many things, but at the heart
of them all is this: There is a light
within you, in your soul, uncreated
and uncreatable; it simply is. If you wish to know yourself,
look for this light in the dark;
it is ever present, even when
you've lost sight of it. Look
away from what you think
you are, and look deeper into
the darkness that is within. There you'll find that light
which is ever radiant,
even if no one—not
even you—notices.

--Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) German Dominican academic, theologian, preacher, and mystic, from Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness & Light: Meditations on the Path of the Wayless Way, 2023, edited by Jon M. Sweeney and Mark S. Burrows.

Rain Towards Morning

The great light cage has broken up in the air,
freeing, I think, about a million birds
whose wild ascending shadows will not be back,
and all the wires come falling down.
No cage no frightening birds; the rain
is brightening now. The face is pale
that tried there puzzle of their prison
and solved is with an unexpected kiss,
who freckled unsuspected hands alit.

--Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), American poet and Pulitzer Prize winner.

Sabbath Poem I (1986)-- A Timbered Choir

Slowly, slowly, they return

To the small woodland let alone:
Great trees, outspreading and upright,
Apostles of the living light.

Patient as stars, they build in air
Tier after tier a timbered choir,
Stout beams upholding weightless grace
Of song, a blessing on this place.

They stand in waiting all around,
Uprisings of their native ground,
Downcomings of the distant light;
They are the advent they await.

Receiving sun and giving shade,
Their life’s a benefaction made,
And is a benediction said
Over the living and the dead.

In fall their bright and leaves, released,
Fly down the wind, and we are pleased
To walk on radiance, amazed.
O light come down to earth, be praised!

-- Wendell Berry, American  poet, farmer, and essayist, from A Timbered Choir: the Sabbath Poems 1979-1997

O Star-flinging God

O Star-flinging God,
whose light dances across eternity,
       dazzle us into your presence
       this new year.
Open our hearts to the mystery of your love.

Awaken us to your presence,
       knit to the ordinary.
Reveal to us what is possible, but not yet present.
Heal us, that we might be healers.

Reconcile us to you and to ourselves,
       that our living might be reconciling.

Stop us often, we pray
       with news that is good
       with hope that holds
       with truth that transforms with a Word
              tailored to this trail we're on.

May the word of your grace guide our steps
       like the sun by day
       and the north star by night,
       as we travel into the gift of a new year. Amen.

— written by Glenn Mitchell, and posted on MINemergent’s Daily Communique.

A Light Exists in Spring

A Light exists in Spring 
Not present on the Year 
At any other period -- 
When March is scarcely here 

A Color stands abroad 
On Solitary Fields 
That Science cannot overtake 
But Human Nature feels. 

It waits upon the Lawn, 
It shows the furthest Tree 
Upon the furthest Slope you know 
It almost speaks to you. 

Then as Horizons step 
Or Noons report away 
Without the Formula of sound 
It passes and we stay -- 

A quality of loss
Affecting our Content 
As Trade had suddenly encroached 
Upon a Sacrament.

--Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet and mystic

Dazzling: A Blessing for Transfiguration Sunday

Believe me, I know
how tempting it is
to remain inside this blessing,
to linger where everything
is dazzling
and clear.

We could build walls
around this blessing,
put a roof over it.
We could bring in
a table, chairs,
have the most amazing meals.
We could make a home.
We could stay.

But this blessing
is built for leaving.
This blessing
is made for coming down
the mountain.
This blessing
wants to be in motion,
to travel with you
as you return
to level ground.

It will seem strange
how quiet this blessing becomes
when it returns to earth.
It is not shy.
It is not afraid.

It simply knows
how to bide its time,
to watch and wait,
to discern and pray

until the moment comes
when it will reveal
everything it knows,
when it will shine forth
with all that it has seen,
when it will dazzle
with the unforgettable light
you have carried
all this way.

—Jan Richardson, (1947- ), American Methodist poet, artist, and theologian, from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

Opening Prayer for Epiphany

Gracious and all loving God,
you call to us across deep waters and dark places. 
Yours is the light which guides us
and the voice which we follow.
We pray that you would reveal yourself to us as we worship you.
May those without hope be encouraged;
those who are sad, cheered;
those who are seeking, find you;
and may all things be according to your will.

In the name of your beloved Son we pray. Amen. 

--written by Rev. Richard J. Fairchild, and posted on Kir-shalom. http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermons/a-or01sm.php

Light of the World, Come (Advent Gathering Prayer)

In this Advent season we await the coming of Christ.
Light of the World, come.
Come to the oppressed and exploited,
Come to the despised and rejected,
Come to all in whom the divine image is distorted.

We wait in joyful expectation.
Come not as a man of power, but in love and compassion,
Come to the outcast – like the shepherds in the fields,
Come to foreigners – like Magi watching from afar,
Come to rich and poor, young and old, male and female,

We wait in hopeful anticipation.
Come to bless all creation with your love,
Come to bring salvation on the earth,
Come to rule with justice and in peace.
Come Light of the World, illuminate our path.

We wait with all the peoples of the earth,
Light of the World, we welcome your coming.

--From the Third Space website

Light

HAIL holy light, offspring of Heav'n first-born,
Or of th' Eternal Coeternal beam
May I express thee unblam'd? since God is light,
And never but in unapproachèd light
Dwelt from Eternitie, dwelt then in thee,                  5
Bright effluence of bright essence increate.
Or hear'st thou rather pure Ethereal stream,
Whose Fountain who shall tell? before the Sun,
Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice
Of God, as with a Mantle didst invest                       10
The rising world of waters dark and deep,
Won from the void and formless infinite.
Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing,
Escap't the Stygian Pool, though long detain'd
In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight                15
Through utter and through middle darkness borne
With other notes then to th' Orphean Lyre
I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night,
Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to reascend,                        20
Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe,
And feel thy sovereign vital Lamp; but thou
Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain
To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
So thick a drop serene hath quencht their Orbs,       25
Or dim suffusion veiled. Yet not the more
Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt
Cleer Spring, or shadie Grove, or Sunnie Hill,
Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief
Thee Sion and the flowrie Brooks beneath                 30
That wash thy hallowd feet, and warbling flow,
Nightly I visit: nor somtimes forget
Those other two equal'd with me in Fate,
So were I equal'd with them in renown.
Blind Thamyris and blind Mæonides,                          35
And Tiresias and Phineus Prophets old.
Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move
Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful Bird
Sings darkling, and in shadiest Covert hid
Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the Year         40
Seasons return, but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of Ev'n or Morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or Summers Rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But cloud in stead, and ever-during dark                  45
Surrounds me, from the chearful ways of men
Cut off, and for the Book of knowledge fair
Presented with a Universal blanc
Of Natures works to mee expung'd and ras'd,
And wisdome at one entrance quite shut out.         50
So much the rather thou Celestial light
Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight.

-- John Milton (1608-1674), English Puritan poet and civil servant, who became completely blind in his early 50s

Prayer for Light (at Evening)

The heaven, O Lord,

is bright with the clear shining of the stars,

and the earth is serene with radiant light,

since You have shone upon the world

from Your holy habitation.

Chase then, we ask You,

all darkness from our minds.

Kindle our hearts

with the splendour of Your grace.

Enlighten our eyes

with the radiance of Your brightness,

that we may attain to see You for ever. 

--Mozarabic prayer from Evelyn Underhill's Prayer Book 

Image from the Hubble telescope.

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

-- William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), Irish poet and nationalist

Gold

I don’t want to make too much of this,

but because the bedroom faces east

across a lake here in Florida,

when the sun begins to rise

and reflects off the water,

the whole room is suffused with the kind

of golden light that might travel 
at dawn on the summer solstice

the length of a passageway in a megalithic tomb.

Again, I don’t want to exaggerate,

but it reminds me of a brand of light

that could illuminate the walls

of a hidden chamber full of treasure, 
pearls and gold coins overflowing the silver platters.

I feel like comparing it to the fire

that Aphrodite lit in the human eye

so as to make it possible for us to perceive

the other three elements,

but the last thing I want to do

is risk losing your confidence

by appearing to lay it on too thick.

Let’s just say that the morning light here

would bring to any person’s mind 
the rings of light that Dante

deploys in the final cantos of the Paradiso

to convey the presence of God,

while bringing the Divine Comedy

to a stunning climax and leave it at that.

--Billy Collins (1941- ), from Horoscopes for the Dead: Poems (2011)