Then Shall Your Light Rise: Spiritual Formation and Social Witness

Hollyday uses her own experiences to remind us that Christianity is love in action. It's not warming a pew on Sundays and it's not keeping up a facade that everything is okay. Following Christ is about abandoning yourself to Him and allowing Him to use you as a vessel of His peace. Hollyday reminds us all of this by tying her testimonies of love and service to Biblical passages. And the Bible is so clear on what God wants from us. After reading this book, you can't escape it. The bottom line is that serving Christ by serving others brings glory to God!This quote from page 37 sums up the spirit of the book: "Jesus never stopped and asked who deserved compassion. He demanded no proof of effort or righteousness or worth. He simply served and healed -- the lame, the blind, the outcasts, the sinners."If you want a real picture of what following Christ is about, or if you are a Christian looking for what God's purpose is for you, read this book!

Cool thing about this book is that it mixes present day events with Bible readings and makes the Bible seem very connected to everyday life. The author does social witness; even this book is a social witness. But she does it because it is part of her spirituality. To Hollyday, social witness is her act of prayer. Would give it 10 star rating, but that seems a mythical number.

Joyce Hollyday opened me to a new set of spiritual expectations. She understands how spirituality connects with social action. I haven't heard a lot about that connection--thought maybe it died with the movements of the '60s. Maybe it didn't die, but has been hiding in the church all these years. Reading this book encourages me to think positively about church and community and possibilities for justice.

What attracted me to Hollyday's book was the cover, which evoked the 1930s and Dorothy Day and the worker-priest movement. (And I live in a heavily industrialized section of Virginia, a town once known for its chemical "accidents.") I think Joyce Hollyday's book is a manifesto for spirituality and social witness in our time in the same way that Dorothy Day spoke to the culture of her time. Hollyday offers insights that connect social action with spirituality. She does it without condemnation, but with a spirit of gentleness, something missing from many books that deal with the problems of society.

Then Shall Your Light Rise examines some traditional Christian spiritual attitudes and practices in the light of the author's commitment to social witness. Joyce Hollyday helps readers understand attitudes (such as gratitude, thanksgiving, solidarity) from a perspective that seeks God's justice. A richly written work for adult groups and individuals, this book challenges those on the spiritual quest to do external acts of compassion.