When the Shadow Fell Over Carbondale

On August 21, 2017, thousands gathered in Carbondale, Illinois — the point of greatest eclipse duration in the continental United States. For two minutes and forty seconds, the moon slid completely over the sun. What happened next stunned even seasoned astronomers. Grown men wept. Strangers grabbed each other's arms. A hush fell over the crowd, followed by gasps and cries. Many dropped to their knees without thinking.

Something about standing in the sudden shadow of a cosmic event strips away every pretense. You cannot scroll your phone. You cannot make small talk. You can only stand there, undone by something so much larger than yourself.

Isaiah knew that feeling — but infinitely magnified. When he saw the Lord, high and lifted up, with seraphim thundering "Holy, holy, holy," the prophet did not applaud. He did not take notes. He crumbled. "Woe is me! I am undone!" he cried, because the sheer radiance of the Almighty exposed every shadow in his soul.

But here is what makes Isaiah 6 more than a story of human smallness. God did not leave the prophet on the ground. A seraph flew to him with a burning coal, touched his lips, and declared him clean. The Holy One who revealed Isaiah's unworthiness was the same God who removed it.

And then came the question that changed everything: "Whom shall I send?" Isaiah, freshly purified and overwhelmed by grace, could only answer, "Here am I. Send me."