Friday, December 22, 2023  

---

Today’s Hymn

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
from Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal

---

Reflection

I have sung this hymn for years without ever really wondering what a “Dayspring” is. I suppose I’ve always assumed that it just meant something like “dawn.” While Merriam-Webster defines it as “archaic: the beginning of day: dawn,” they also define it as “the beginning of a new era or order of things.”

Learning this brings a whole new meaning to this verse and changes my perspective of the hymn. Sure, living in Pennsylvania and Chicago for nearly my whole life has guaranteed that my experience with Advent has been one of short days and long nights, fully leaning into the feeling of the “gloomy clouds of night” of this hymn. And sure, it will be nice when the days begin to get longer and the sun shines a little more, but that has never felt like much for me to rejoice about when we still have many months of winter left.

However, I can rejoice at the thought of Emmanuel coming into the world and beginning a “new era or order of things,” particularly when it feels like there is a new atrocity or heartbreak every day. I can get stuck on those gloomy clouds, but maybe this Christmas I can turn my focus to imagining what a new era could be like in which those clouds of gloom are truly dispersed.

---

Prayer
Dayspring, as we await your arrival on Christmas, may our spirits be cheered as we consider what a new era could be like. Amen.

---

Written by Katrina Buchanan, Editorial Associate

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

Devotion index by date | I’d like to receive daily devotions by email