light

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Light Is So Important That You Can’t Do Without It

Losing light is more problematic than just making a room a darker place. We’ve all gone into a room, flicked on the lights and realized one of the bulbs is burnt out.

light is so important that you can't do without it

You notice immediately that it is not as bright in that room. The room seems dull and, if it’s a bathroom and you are over 40, you complain that you can’t see your face well enough to do the work that needs to be done on it.

Losing just one light out of many makes a difference. Sometimes the difference is between finding something you are looking for and not finding it at all.

The older I get, the more important light is to me. 

I’m fine with low lighting when I’m out for a nice dinner. It doesn’t matter if I can’t make out exactly what the vegetables are on my plate. It’s the mood that counts most and I will forgo being able to see if my steak has been cooked medium or medium rare.

But when I’m looking for something or trying to read, I want to put as much light on the matter as possible. One light down and the search becomes frustrating; reading becomes a chore.

Currently I’m missing a light in our family room and it’s really bugging me.

It’s not a light that prevents me from seeing or changes the mood setting of the room. It’s a light that turns on when my team scores a goal. I have a Budweiser goal light. The only time it turns on is when the Toronto Maple Leafs score a goal. 

I realize that this year the Leafs aren’t scoring a ton of goals, but this light is not turning on for any goals. 

The other thing about this light is that it not only cycles a red light for a few seconds, it also gives two blasts of what sounds like a truck horn.

It is awesome! 

It can be annoying if you are doing something else or in the middle of speaking. It can be frightening if you are not watching the game and all of a sudden the light and horn go off. I’ll admit there have been a few times I’ve jumped when it’s gone off. 

But it is also very exciting when you hear the sound and come running into the room, see the light flashing and catch the replay of the goal.

That’s all nice but sadly my light has not been turning on at all this year. 

For the first part of the hockey season I couldn’t connect it to the internet. I thought it was a problem with my modem, but it turned out that its batteries were low. The goal light takes four D sized batteries. 

After I put new batteries in I had no problem connecting to the internet. But it’s still not announcing goals.

Other people have also had issues with their lights not going off. … Maybe Budweiser had to lay off the guy that presses the goal button. They have had some troubles lately.

All I know is, I’m missing my light and I want it back. And if not now, at least for the playoffs.

Here’s the thing: For people who have a relationship with Jesus, they have a light in them, a light that guides them and shows them the way. This light is actually the person of the Holy Spirit. The only thing that can dim this light is if we ignore Him. Pay attention to the light in you and follow His direction. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What light in your life have you noticed is not working? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Noticed Something Hopeful

I noticed something the other day that I have not witnessed in several months. It was the light of the sun. 

I’m not saying that I haven’t seen the sun in months – I don’t live in the Antarctic. What I noticed was that it was still light out when I left work to go home. It was 5:40 pm and it was still bright outside. 

It seems like for months it’s been dark at 4:30 in the afternoon. 

I’m sure sundown didn’t just jump from 4:30 to 5:45 in a week, but it was nice to still have some light at the end of my work day. 

We’ve had many – I should say, mostly – overcast days that have made it seem like the sun has gone down early.  

But yesterday it was really sunny all day so, as evening approached, the light lingered and for a brief moment I felt like we were finally getting the better of winter. 

We just had Groundhog Day and, from the most reliable sources, the decision goes to an early spring. Wiarton Willie and Punxsutawney Phil both predict an early spring with Shubenacadie Sam being the dissenter after seeing his shadow. 

For me, after seeing the sunlight at 5:40 yesterday, I’m on the side of the early spring hogs. 

And frankly, I can’t wait.  We’ve had a pretty easy winter so far but the last two weeks have been anything but. 

I liked what I saw last night though, and I’m encouraged by what our two little groundhog friends are reporting.

… Though in the days of climate change, how can they really know? 

I’m just glad that those rodents don’t live in the Midwest. It’s sunny there all the time so they would see their shadows every year. Then we would definitely have long winters. 

… And that’s what those in the Midwest experience: long, cold winters. However, it is sunny there and that makes all the difference. Well, that and the fact that it is a dry cold so it really doesn’t feel as cold as it is. 

It’s -25 C in Red Deer but with the sun and the dry cold it feels like it’s +2 C.  …These are stories people tell themselves to help them believe winter isn’t that bad. 

The west has sun and dry cold and we have a couple of rodents calling the shots. 

This year I’m all onboard with Phil and Willie.  

As soon as I shovel off my back deck, maybe I’ll fire up the BBQ just to get me in the mood for the coming spring and summer. 

I know that catching a glimpse of light at dinner time and a couple of groundhogs not seeing their shadows isn’t much to hang my hopes on, but it could be time to put the shovel away for another year. 

And if nothing else, we can hope for it all to be true.

Here’s the thing: We are so quick to put our hope in things that don’t have a sure base. And we are comfortable in doing that. But how often do we forget or neglect to put our hope in God for things that are much weightier? – especially when placing our hope in God is sure and secure based. We all need hope because while we are living in the present we are constantly pushing against and moving the boundaries of the future. It’s what’s ahead that drives us to seek hope. Seek hope in God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need hope for? Leave your comments below.

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How Darkness Causes You To Stumble

I’m wondering if you can become more klutzy as you get older. I wouldn’t say that I have the greatest hand eye coordination but I’ve always been able to negotiate my way around things.

Falling-down

But not last night. I was working at the church and had gone out to run an errand. When I came back, I didn’t turn on any lights except for in my office. So, by the time I was done for the night, the church was pitch black dark.

The church foyer is pretty open so I made my way across it to the stairs. I started down the stairs and right near the bottom something caught my eye. It may have been a reflection or something but I looked up and then missed the last one or two stairs.

Well that was it – it would have made a great video! I sprawled out, my computer bag went flying, and I landed hard on both knees, which are not the greatest to begin with.

I rolled on the ground for a second, waiting for the pain to subside, then stood up, grabbed my bag and left. No harm, no foul. No one saw my wipe out. I didn’t suffer any kind of injury. But I felt pretty dumb.

When I was in my teens my bedroom was in the far end of our basement. There were two flights of steps to go down, and to get to my room I had to walk through two other rooms.

Instead of turning on a light at the top of the stairs, then turning on a light in my room and going back to the top of the stairs to turn that light out again, I would just make my way to my room in the dark.

I not only had the stairs to contend with, but I had couches, lamp stands, and any number of other objects that would be in my way. But I made it; I never fell down the stairs, never banged my knee into a door frame.

What happened to me last night, I don’t know. I’m just glad I wasn’t chewing gum at the same time; it might have been a disaster.

I know some people would try to tell me that I should look where I’m going. But really, I’ve been walking for well over 50 years! I think by now I should be able to cheat on that a little bit and get away with it.

Every morning I walk down a dark hallway, turning a Q-tip in my ear, and so far I haven’t jammed my elbow against the wall and sent that Q-tip clean through to my other ear.

Maybe my fall was an isolated incident, some kind of fluke that won’t happen again. Or maybe it’s the start of a clumsiness that will find me in traction drinking through a straw!

I guess I will just have to see what happens.

Here’s the thing: In the dark, even a glint of light catches our attention. Our eyes are drawn to it. But in the light, these little glints aren’t even noticeable. God has given us a great light in the Bible, and if we will read it, know it, and use it, all the little theories, fads, and ideas won’t distract us and cause us to fall.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your greatest source of distraction? Leave your comment below.

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Why Projects Always Take Longer Than You Plan For

Maybe it’s just me, but any project I take on turns out to be more than I bargained for. It doesn’t matter what it is, nothing is as simple as I think it’s going to be. Something I think will take 10 minutes will take a half hour.

Man_electrocuting

The other day I decided to fix a broken standing pole lamp that Lily really liked.

I took some measurements and headed to the hardware store. I was hoping for an all-in-one-fix-your-standing-pole-lamp-diy kit, but though I looked everywhere, I couldn’t find one.

I scoured the electrical section and found wire that I needed. There were two gauges to choose from; I picked the heavier gauge. I grabbed a switch and a socket that looked about the same as the original ones and headed home.

So I purchased three items and, as it turned out, all of them were different that the original items in the lamp. But for some reason, I figured they would work just fine … and that’s all Lily cared about. She wanted the lamp to work.

It’s like the instruction sheet mentality, where you think, “Who needs instructions? Just do it and don’t worry about spare parts; it will all work out.”

Well, my first problem was in replacing the wire. The opening in the pole was tight; I should have bought the lighter gauged wire. But I was going to make it work! So I forced it in and, yes, it probably took 3X longer than I thought, but I got it done.

I was surprised that the socket went on really quickly. That should have concerned me. When something is that easy, it usually means I forgot to do something. But I was on a roll and moved on to the switch.

I realized that I bought an on/off switch when the original had been a dimmer switch. At that point I didn’t really care. Lily was going to have light, and when you have light, why in the world would you ever want to dim that?!

With the switch in place, I plugged the lamp in and flicked that switch. Voila, it worked! I thought this was one of the easiest projects I’d done in a long time.

That’s when I went to put the lamp shade on and realized why the old socket was different from the new one. It was used to secure the shade to the lamp.

I had to take off the socket and use the old one, and that required me to use solder. … I can’t solder worth a darn and it took me forever to make the change.

When my project was finally complete, I didn’t stand back and think, “Great job, Paul. You did it again.”

I placed the lamp stand in the living room, turned my back to it and walked away thinking, “I don’t want to look at that lamp for the rest of the night.”

Here’s the thing: Sometimes we want to fix our problems in life with ideas we’ve tried before or recycled approaches from some self-help source. The best approach, however, is to seek God for a fresh solution to your problem. Ask Him to apply His power to the problem at hand. He will use the right materials for the job.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What gives you the greatest frustration in problems or projects you have?  Leave your comment below.