The Point

Arise, shine; for your light has come . . . 

 - From Isaiah 60

There's a lot about Isaiah, that I would like to study in depth. I need a better sense of his placement in history. What was going on around him? What were the conditions in Judah, at the time? (I'm thinking Israel was gone by then, and that Judah was the focus.)

I have read that he came from a wealthy family, and had the world at his fingertips . . . yet he became a prophet. And as a prophet, he had a reputation of being excessive, severe, a little off balance. 

I have read that the Book of Isaiah may be read in two parts. In the first part, a God of vengeance and anger is presented. And Isaiah's tone matches it. But in the second part, we get all of the messianic promises. There is warmth, hope, and great joy foretold. 

I need to study Isaiah, looking for those things. 

God's mystery is revealed today, on the Day of Epiphany. An "epiphany" is a profound revealing. A sudden change comes over you, something happens in your life, and everything changes. 

Everything did change, when Christ was born. And Epiphany is the day that the world realized it. Pagan kings and Wise Men traveled far, to see this wonder. They wanted to understand. The world went on about it's way. During the days of Christ's infancy, commerce continued. The poor languished and the rich got fat. Wars advanced here and there. There was relative silence in places like the British Isles, and the future North America. 

But still, the world itself knew something was up. It would have been interesting to have lived during those weeks, somewhere on the other side of the world . . . just to see what it was like in far-off places. Because I am convinced that something had changed, and it was obvious.

In the midst of a Silent Night . . . a great light has come. Our path is no longer dark. There is a Way. There is a destination. There is a point to all of it . . . there always has been . . . except that now, we know what the point is. 

And all the world is being drawn into that single, defining, essential, eternal, Point.