Emphasis Preaching Journal
Arise, shine; for your light...
Illustration
"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Those are revelatory words, words of energizing insight and empowering experience. Moments like those described in these words from Isaiah do not come to us every day or every month or, for that matter, every year. But they don't have to. A moment like that has staying power within us. A moment like this is related in John Cheever's novel, Oh What a Paradise It Seems. Cheever has a character named Sears awake to a morning described in this fashion: