Twilight in Advent

Between day and night, night and day, there is a brief transition, that grows and fades again.  One moment the sky glows with mesmerizing colors, then again the colorful display fades—or the reverse.  Sunset – sunrise.  Evening twilight – morning twilight.

When the sun stands low in the sky, as at this time of the year, twilight lasts longer.  Sometimes, in a clear sky, tender, changing colors appear on the horizon during the transition between light and darkness.  Meteorologists call this the bow of twilight.  Not only there where the sun is low in the sky, but everywhere on the horizon, colors will appear.  That is what our epistle calls: “the bow of color that spans the sky.”  It is more than a poetic expression; it is visible reality.  Twilight weaves a color garment around us, a garment that weaves the visible and invisible worlds into one.  Even if the sky is covered by clouds for days on end, even if the days are grey and the nights dark, in the sky above the clouds stands, between night and day, between day and night, the bow of color.

“Divining grows from twilight…”  These words tell us that also above a covered sky a sunrise is to come.  Not only do we after midwinter celebrate the return of sunlight, but above all Christ’s coming, His Advent.

That is His sunrise, every year anew.

That He lets His light shine over our sick, infirm earth;

That He lets His love shine over our struggling, suffering humanity.

-Rev. Bastiaan Baan, December 14, 2025