Arise, Shine

Excerpt from Isaiah 60:1-6

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."

Reflection by Donna Schaper

When you move from being a fraulein to being a frau, from a senorita to being a senora, a girl to being a woman, things change.  Men also become men and leave the great land of boyhood.   We each hope to rise, while losing inches from our spine and avoiding osteoporosis of the soul.

The difference between our rising and our slumping has to do with our aim.  Where were we trying to go in the first place?  Towards our glory or the sacred glory?  Towards estrangement from the human race, in the grand exceptionalism of ourselves?  Were we going to be different from the rest of the schlubs and resist soul slump, bone brittleness?  Do we want to be perpetually premature, always a little less ready for life than we could be?  So many people aim to best their parents, or their high school peers.  So many fail, especially by trying.

Aiming for the glory of God lightens us.  It raises us from the death of the girl and the boy.  It raises us into light and lightness of being.  Arise.  Shine.

Prayer

O God, you who keep asking us to aim for you, sharpen our sight.  Let us see what we are aiming for so well that we hit our mark.  Amen.

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About the Author Donna Schaper is Senior Minister of Judson Memorial Church, New York, New York.