"As we approach the year 2000, I feel compelled as an artist to celebrate not the passing of the old millennium but the beginning of the new millennium. To me the new millennium represents a pivotal point in human history - a chance to change the world for the better.

As I ponder the events of the last thousand years, I see much evidence of the darkness of this world. Yet rather than spend our time cursing the darkness, if each of us would let our light shine the world would be a much brighter place indeed. I truly believe that this next millennium will come to be characterized as the "Millennium of Light" and I pray my Sunrise painting will be symbolic of a new dawning of God's grace and love in the years ahead.

Let's pray together that God's light will shine anew in the new millennium."

--- Thomas Kinkade