No one after
lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand,
and it gives light to all in the house. – Matthew 5:15 (NRSV)
First off let me
apologize for not doing a Musing these last couple of weeks and not telling you
I won’t. Nothing serious going on, just didn’t manage my schedule well enough
to get everything in.
Last night I was preparing dinner for about 20 people at my
church. Each year I “sell” and event at our church auction and sometimes these
events include meals. This year I am doing 6 evenings with dinner and a
presentation. Well anyway, last night the power when out in the area around the
church. A power line was down and I think a fire was involved but the outcome
was no electricity and total darkness when the sun set about 6pm.
Luckily I had already prepared the main dish and had it sealed up
tight in a roaster keeping it warm and the dessert was made and we were having
salad and tortillas. I wasn’t able to get the quinoa cooked but other than that
dinner was ready. So we went ahead with the dinner by candlelight using candelabra
and candleholders placed all around the room.
Two things struck me as folks gathered and we ate our dinner. One
is how much light you get from just one candle. It is said that the human eye
can detect the light of a candle as far away as 1.6 miles (https://www.technologyreview.com/s/539826/how-far-can-the-human-eye-see-a-candle-flame/).
So even a little light from one candle flame can make a room brighten up. If
you add many candles the room comes to light. Now using candelabras and such
means the light is lower down so it gives the room a special glow and a
comforting mix of soft light and soft shadow. There really is something nice
about being in a safe place in candle light. And it gives special meaning to
the scripture from John 1. Darkness cannot overcome the light of a candle.
The second thing that struck me had to do with the resilience of
people. Now we were not in a terrible disaster nor were we ever in danger but
still this group of folks came together in less than ideal circumstances and
overcome them. We enjoyed our dinner. There was lots of laughter and
conversation. The meal – though hard to see in detail – was eaten without a
hitch. The presentation wasn’t the magnificent PowerPoint I had put together
but from my notes I was able to share the substance of what that presentation
held and doing so by candle was in a way fitting since we were talking about
ancient Mesoamerica.
This power outage and our time together has reminded me of just
how special people are and how we can get along without all our modern conveniences.
If dinner hadn’t been mostly ready, we still could have ordered pizza and had a
great time or just eaten the salad and tortillas. I like being reminded of
this. Being the host and cook I sometimes get caught up in wanting everything
to be “just so”. I worry that things will not be what I envision them to be. So
it is good for me to be reminded once in a while that I really am not in
control and that wonderful things can still happen when the best laid plans and
all my great designs cannot come to life. It does me good to be with a group of
people that rise to the occasion and make the best of what is given them.
As we head into a weekend that might bring other opportunities for
fun in the dark and using candles these reminders are good for me. I hope you
stay safe and have a good weekend.
Dear God, thank you for moments that help me remember that I am
not in control. Thank you for resilient people who can make the most of a
situation. And thank you most of all for your presence in all the dark and
light moments of my life. Especially, O God, be with those who have experienced
some of the worst of life with hurricanes and typhoons and flooding and with
those who are helping them. Amen.
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