“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1:5
I wake in the morning before the sun begins her entrance. We could say I wake before dawn.
“Dawn”. What a great word to describe this experience.
The transition from night to dawn is subtle. Gradual. And dramatic. The movement is revealed like a painter filling in their canvas. The Crayola box of 64 colors find names to these shades of pink, purple, yellow, green and blue. Each illuminated brighter or dimmer in the passage of time. The gray dismissed as contrast.
There comes the moment I look away only to return to find the painting has been completed. Canvas removed for another day.
Dawn as a noun is defined as the first break of day. Light before the sun has made a full presence in the sky. It is also defined as a period of time that is favorable.
As a verb, dawn is defined by Google as when something becomes evident to the mind; to be perceived or understood. For example- “the awful truth was beginning to dawn on him“.
Funny they would use the statement “awful truth” dawned on him. I would like to say “dawn” is like an epiphany. A “a-ha” moment. The moment claiming God’s presence is truly here. No doubt about it. Even with unfavorable truth, it is made better with the presence of God.
The season of Advent leading to Christmas comes with darkness. It can feel heavy with tender memories, unmet wants and dreams. It also comes like dawn. As the season progresses so do the colors and the light. Light that cannot be overcome. Light that comes to us as God incarnate in a child.
This middle of the night birth brings about dawn. A new painting for the world. One that reveals God here and in all things. Filling in the darkness with colors as Periwinkle Pink, Olive Green, Cadet blue and all the crayons created. In the moment we look away only to find the coloring sheet complete, we are promised a new one will come to us again.