Illumined Towards Deep Night

Discernment of Light in Dark Times

What depth
of faith he drew on,
turning illumined
towards deep night.

Denise Levertov
from her poem, Candlemas

Yet if we celebrate, let it be
that He
has invaded our lives with purpose,
striding over our picturesque traditions,
our shallow sentiment,
overturning our cash registers,
wielding His peace like a sword,
rescuing us into reality…

Luci Shaw

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace :
according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen :
thy salvation;
Which thou hast prepared :
before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles :
and to be the glory of thy people Israel. Luke 2

Those words, spoken by the old man Simeon as he beheld the Christ child in the Temple, have been recited in evening liturgies since the 4th century. For many of us, they are words rich with meaning and layered with associations: a candle of faith illuminating the end of a day, or the end of a life. And in this story we glimpse a faith bright enough to illuminate even the deepest night.

This story of the revelation of Jesus in the temple ends the church’s season of Epiphany. More than the revelations we’ve celebrated so far - angels in the field, magi from afar, a voice from heaven, water into wine - this one is difficult. There will be suffering, says Simeon. As the revelation unfolds into reality, things won’t be quite so simple or as easy as you’d hoped. This child will be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.

There is so much to ponder here, so much implication for our spiritual life as we peer into the dim light of our temples and churches, into the deep night of our world, into the shadow of our own soul.

I am struck, first, by how difficult or even impossible it might be to discern the light of Christ without offering to God, as Mary and Joseph did, all the very best of what belongs to us, all that we cherish most dearly, all that is good in ourselves. Moreover, such offering must be consecrated in the company of others. Community allows us to be with others who help us to see the greater light, and who bear witness to it like Simeon, even with all the darkness and suffering it might entail.

It’s easy for us to have thoughts that were inconceivable in Jesus’s time: one can imagine that if Mary and Joseph were living now they’d be tempted to break away from the conventions of the Temple. Their story so far, as we have it, is deeply unconventional - the strange conception, the repeated testimonies of glory. This couple were carrying into the temple, bundled in their arms, the supreme revelation of God! Mightn’t a modern Mary and Joseph just think, out with the old and in with the new? Why go through all the religious rigmarole?But, the thought is delusive.

Though the divine is born anew in each generation, in unlikely places and faces, it is best discerned and recognised through ancient eyes. The presence of God is usually perceived most subtly, most reliably, by those who have waited and prayed, who have been faithful through many seasons.

Simeon reminds us not only that we must pray, and pray faithfully, in order to affirm and confirm the Spirit’s movement in the world, but also that the most genuine revelation of Christ will always be paradoxical: light and dark, love and suffering, a tender new life and a fierce dying to self, a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.

For some of us, it is one of the graces of old age to see the bigger picture. It is certainly the grace of the Spirit, for people of any age, to discern the true coming of Christ into this world as always both gift and challenge.

And so, like Mary and Joseph, let us consecrate our lives; make them sacred by bringing ourselves into community, allowing the scriptures, prayers, rituals and deepest wisdom of generations to search out and see what is most sacred in our hearts and lives.

And like Simeon and Anna, let us wait and wonder and hope. Let’s study the character of God in order to recognise the face of Christ when it comes. And let’s expect to find him carried in by those who do not have status or demand appreciation of merit. The revelation will come in humility and openness and need: it will come as humility and openness and need, it will come with the vulnerability of a baby. Let us look for those who come bearing the Christ child.

And let us, in contemplative stillness, offer the best of what we are and what we conceive and what we carry, into the darkness of silence to find the mysterious light of Christ.

A LITURGY OF PRAYER

Opening Prayer

Breathe into stillness.

Pray for open heart and eyes to see.

1^st Readings

Luke 2.22-40

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;^* this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.^* Guided by the Spirit, Simeon^* came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon^* took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant^* in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.’

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon^* blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

There was also a prophet, Anna^* the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child^* to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.

A Time of Silence

Suggestion: 20 mins. But take even a few minutes if you can!

Silence is not always easy. The mind is hard to quiet. If you don’t yet have a way, you might find a single prayer word or phrase - and return to it each time you find your mind wandering. Your mind certainly will wander. Don’t worry. Just gently return, repeating the prayer word.

Widening the Circle

Let’s give thanks for the gift of silence and as we come out of it, let’s widen the circle - extending grace and prayers to all those on our hearts and minds right now.

The Lord’s Prayer

There’s a nice version below.

2^nd Reading

Candlemas

With certitude
Simeon opened
ancient arms
to infant light.
Decades
before the cross, the tomb
and the new life,
he knew
new life.
What depth
of faith he drew on,
turning illumined
towards deep night.

Denise Levertov (1923–1997)

One time of the year
the new-born child
is everywhere,
planted in madonnas’ arms
hay mows, stables,
in palaces or farms,
or quaintly, under snowed gables,
gothic angular or baroque plump,
naked or elaborately swathed,
encircled by Della Robbia wreaths,
garnished with whimsical
partridges and pears,
drummers and drums,
lit by oversize stars,
partnered with lambs,
peace doves, sugar plums,
bells, plastic camels in sets of three
as if these were what we needed
for eternity.

But Jesus the Man is not to be seen.
There are some who are wary, these days,
of beards and sandalled feet.

Yet if we celebrate, let it be
that He
has invaded our lives with purpose,
striding over our picturesque traditions,
our shallow sentiment,
overturning our cash registers,
wielding His peace like a sword,
rescuing us into reality,
demanding much more
than the milk and the softness
and the mother warmth
of the baby in the storefront crèche,
(only the Man would ask
all, of each of us)
reaching out
always, urgently, with strong
effective love
(only the Man would give
His life and live
again for love of us).

Oh come, let us adore Him—
Christ—the Lord.

Luci Shaw

Blessing

And so may we consecrate our lives daily, offering all that we are to God’s greater life. May we know the peace of Simeon and Anna even as we wait for revelation in a dark time. And may we bear witness to the light of Christ whenever and however it arrives. And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, evermore. Amen.

Music:

Especially if you haven’t found time for silence or need help with stillness. Sit down and listen to the whole thing! Breathing in. Breathing out.

Question for the Week: for Journal or Comment

How do you study the face of God in order to recognise the face of Christ when it appears?

Where do you recognise the face of Christ in the world right now?

The New Zealand Anglican Lord's Prayer

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.

Jim Cotter