I have been told that cemeteries are designed so that they face the east. This is certainly the case in most of the cemeteries that I have visited. It was explained to me that the reason for this, is based on the Christian belief that when Christ returns He will come, as least for those of us in this part of the world, in the eastern sky. In another sense, we might say that all who are in the grave await the rising dawn of the eternal state.
At His first coming Christ is called the “Dayspring from on high.” This word is also translated the dawn or the east. I think this title is given to the baby of Bethlehem because His entrance into the world is said “to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” As the sun rises in the east Christ calls himself the light of the world. I can truthfully say that the entrance of Christ into my life was very much like the rising of the dawn. The light of His presence is waking me to all that is life indeed. He is showing me the truth about myself, and my purpose and lighting my path into greater and greater joys. He is the Dayspring of endless days in whose light we shall romp and stomp and play forever. 12/19/2007
