7-9-17
My ceiling fan and I are having a misunderstanding. The light bulbs in it blew. To change them I have to stand on a step stool, unscrew the fastener from beneath the globe, bring the globe down, and switch the bulbs. To put the globe back on I have to manage the globe and then the screw on fastener through the pull cord. While balancing precariously on that step ladder. Which makes it a two person job. And since I bought the wrong kind of bulb, it means until I’m at the store again I am using a flashlight to navigate the bedroom. It’s just not the same.
The overhead light gives enough light to see the room. The flashlight isn’t powerful enough. There are mirrors, but they don’t add to the light that is there. They only reflect. It helps, but it’s still not enough.
People are like that. Some people, like my husband, are bright overhead bulbs that reach every corner of the room they are in. I’m more of a localized flashlight that brightens up a small area or even just a mirror that doesn’t add anything on its own but keeps light going a little longer.
Sometimes I wonder why church doesn’t seem more “on fire”. The thing is, enthusiasm has to come from people. No matter how animated a preacher is or how bubbly my pew neighbor is, if I don’t at least reflect it, that’s where it stops. If I don’t make a little light on my own, how can I be disappointed if a church service feels flat?
…from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. – Ephesians 4:16
We can’t go to church to have other people make the service and atmosphere for us. Church is not a spectator sport. It’s up to me to bring something to work with. There will be times life wrings the feeling right out of me and I need to lean on my church family. When someone else is having one of those weeks though, I need to be ready with my own bulb.
If everyone in service brought the exact amount of enthusiasm I came with today, what would that feel like? Now I’m going to squirm for a minute. I’m usually a reserved person. I’m content to sit in my corner and be invisible. My personality type likely isn’t going to change. I don’t have to make a spotlight out of myself, but I think I can at least graduate from a mirror to a candle.
How do you add to the atmosphere at church or get-togethers?
May the Lord bless and keep you,
Heather
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Heather Tabata 