As we continue in Easter Season I turn this week to a choral work by a contemporary composer: Easter Light for choir and organ by Cecilia McDowall. Capturing the mystery of that early morning in a garden rather than the triumph of Christus victor more often presented in Easter works, the composer’s usual rich (though never anarchic) harmonies sustain the radiance of the dawn. The organ adds garlands inspired by birdsong, and the text, by Angier Brook, initially draws parallels between the dawn of the day and the resurrection of Christ, interweaving them with the ancient Easter greeting: Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

The musical setting foregrounds the alleluias that are so appropriate for the Easter season, and tumble over one another to express that praise in a deep rather than an enthusiastic joy.

The probing theological questions to ask this piece are about the relationship between nature and religion, and are twofold. First, it is another stepping stone in the ancient tradition of the dawn of Easter day comparing the rising of Christ to the rising of the sun (and/or the Morningstar). To that extent it is uncontroversial, though I wonder whether we have collectively reflected sufficiently on the radical distinction between the relatively well-understood natural cycle of the day and the absolutely mysterious and once-for-all drama of Christ’s resurrection. This is worth thinking about even though the Church holds that the resurrection is the first fruit of a future general resurrection of the dead. Nevertheless, nobody could argue that at Easter ‘with illumed heart and radiant faces, we too sing in that light’.

No more controversial is the turn to petition, in which the text asks Christ to rise within our lives and prayers, and to work through us in pursuing His mission in the world. The second relationship between nature and religion follows this, including in that mission work to repair the earth. The Anglican Communion recognised this imperative by adding safeguarding the integrity of creation to its ‘Marks of Mission’ so there has been theological reflection and discernment applied to the idea, albeit that it is not so ancient as the other parallel under discussion.

Perhaps especially appropriate for Easter morning itself, it is appropriate that we should continue to bathe in and reflect the light of the Easter dawn, singing in praise to the Lord, through the season of Easter, and through our lives as an Easter people. Χριστὸς ἀνέστη. ἀλληλούϊα.