Light of light, we humbly pray,
Shine upon your world today.
It’s a struggle to think of a group of people who dislike light and prefer darkness. There must be some, but perhaps very rare. To use light to mean something good, and darkness as something bad, might not be the best idea if there are people whose preference for darkness outweighs light.
To call upon light to shine on our world recalls places in the world where there are few hours of sunlight in winter: much cannot be done until there is enough light, broad and continuous.
Break the gloom of our dark night,
Fill our souls with love and light,
Time is a mysterious part of our life. There is no way we can control time. The mystery goes further because God’s perfect world has a completely different time system.
Recall when we are not able to sleep, the ticking of the clock is as regular and constant as when we are enjoying the company of loved ones, when we wished time slow down so we can spend a longer span of time together.
Send your blessed word again,
“Peace on earth, peace on earth, goodwill, goodwill to men.”
Another thing we cannot yet understand is God’s word, in the person Jesus, is assumed to be light, or the light. We cannot understand that fully from a physical or scientific way; but modern science is touching on the increasingly small, and also increasingly planetary elements that gives a glimpse of more elementary properties of God’s creation. There are hints and tell-tale signs of God’s perfect world working in harmony at all levels.
There is much more in the hymn Veiled in darkness, Judah lay. The usual tunes for it is probably as obscure as the words of this hymn, one note about this is the sentiment of the words does not align well with the tunes. They are not sad, or glorious. That exemplifies the mystery of God: the mystery of God coming to us.
