[Editor's note: A theme for Mennonite Church USA's Advent resources this year is "light out of darkness," based in part on John 1:5: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."]

Lament
O God-where are you?
The nights grow longer, the days become shorter.
We cannot see without your light.
We are lost in the night-we are lost without your light.

Why have you left us?
We called upon you and you did not respond.
We listened for your voice yet all we heard was silence.

Did you turn your back on us?
Then turn your face to us, look upon us again with delight,
like a mother looks at her newborn baby.
Show us your ways, for we are watching.
Speak your wisdom, for we are listening.

O God-where is your light?
We long for day.
We wait for dawn.
Do not let the night overcome us.
Do not leave us without your light.

Make haste, O God-come to our assistance.
Bring your light to the darkness of our night.
Make haste.

Praise
Daylight is coming!
A new day is arriving!
How glorious is one day with you, O God-
One day with you is like a thousand days!

How glorious is this day-
for all that we longed for,
all that we hoped for,
all that we prayed for,
has arrived.

On this day, O God,
You made the deserts to bloom,
turned the swords into ploughshares,
the spears into pruning hooks.
On this day, O God,
You made the blind eyes to see,
the deaf ears to hear,
the broken hearts whole.

On this day, O God,
You made this baby to bring the light, to bring the day.

How glorious is this day, O God!
One day in your kingdom is like a thousand days!
A new day is coming.
Daylight is arriving.