O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit;
claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
O key of David and sceptre of Israel, what you open no one else can close again; what you close no one can open. O come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Sometimes the door is closed. Sometimes it feels terribly locked. Someone like me who is woefully melodramatic often feels great finality where there is none: that whatever door feels closed – the door to prayer, the door to happiness, the door to comfort – will never every open again.
And at the same time I believe that God can call us out of prison, out of darkness into light. Even when I am too weary to pray for deliverance I hold somewhere this bit of faith, that the Light will ultimately triumph over darkness.