This word was introduced to me by a famous south-american evangelist.
Definition of PENUMBRA
I saw this with my own eyes in Brazil last October. It was even in the paper there, as it apparently is not a very common occurrance. The strange thing about this is that unlike it’s definition, this phenomena caused the space between the rainbow and the sun to be both darker and clearer than the sky around it.
The sermon described drawing nearer to God, and pushing through that haze, pressing on through the boundary that many never reach — intimacy with God, into a place where there is a greater spiritual clarity. For me, it’s not only a greater “spiritual clarity”, but also a more heavenly perspective. When you start to understand the love of God and his process in everyone and everything, it takes the stress out of relationships. You begin to see difficult circumstances as simply the test before a promotion, and you find that you’re living life on a higher level, kind of like when I finally picked up some rank as a Corporal in the USMC, but a whole lot better, because this is the abundant life–the beginning of the realization that Satan’s schemes can no longer steal your joy, difficulties are only temporary, and you truly can be thankful in all circumstances.
I imagine that there are many such boundaries, levels, breakthroughs or whatever you want to call them (Penumbras) to cross on our journey toward the Light of the World. It’s awesome to find such truth, something I never would have understood if I wasn’t in the habit of looking up, instead of down.