Friday's Internet Edition, 1:3 AM, March 12, 2010.
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- It’s kind of cozy, sitting here in the dark and writing by candlelight. The power went out. For the male sector of our household, this is cause for celebration.
My son was outside when a sound like a canon roared through our neighborhood. He charged through the door, not knowing that our power had gone off, and yelled, “Somebody just got shot!”
We had heard pronouncements of a similar nature before and tended to take such things with a grain of salt. The chances of someone getting shot and the power going off at the same time were pretty slim. Therefore, we concluded that a transformer must’ve bit the dust.
After some investigation, we determined that our house and our next door neighbor were the only houses with no power. My husband knew it was his lucky day. He found his magnesium flint stick and enthusiastically proceeded to try to light a candle with it. I whipped out my handy-dandy butane fire-lighting tool and took all the wind out of his sails. I apologized for being such a kill-joy.
He spent thirty minutes trying to coax the propane into our gas fireplace and was almost happy that he might have to build a fire in our wood-burning fireplace. Another chance to use the magnesium flint stick!
By the time I had lit all the candles we own, the kids had dragged every blanket on their beds out to the living room. They prepared to spend the night telling ghost stories and scaring the bejesus out of each other with mini flashlights held under their chins.
In true outdoorsman style, my husband pulled out a battery-powered DVD player and put in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the kids to watch.
My son, still convinced that he heard a gunshot, thought that the movie was somewhat appropriately named, but he would have called it Chitty Chitty Boom Boom.
I was perfectly happy with my pen and paper and candlelight. It felt somehow familiar to me; like it was supposed to be done that way. The computer has always been both a blessing and a curse for me.
I remember the last time we had a power outage. We used toothpicks to roast mini marshmallows over a candle. With Teddy Grahams and chocolate chips, they made excellent bite-sized S’mores.
That was also the night we taught our kids to play Pinochle. Those kinds of moments tend to get lost in the high-tech world of today.
When the lights came back on a few hours later, I heard a harmonized chorus of “Awwww!” from the living room. I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed as well.
The kids schlepped their blankets back to their bedrooms. My husband put away his magnesium flint stick because our youngest was eyeing it with way too much interest. Chitty Chitty Boom Boom was once again supplanted in favor of Legos and video games.
I sighed, blew out the candles and put them away… until the next power outage.
Laura Snyder is a nationally syndicated columnist, author & speaker. You can reach Laura at lsnyder@lauraonlife.com Or visit her website www.lauraonlife.com for more info.
A Thought from Brother J
Planning For Retirement
It is a much talked about subject today and many people are very concerned if they will be able to retire and what kind of retirement will they have.
One question is will they have enough money to retire and another is where will they retire and what kind of home will they live in. It is a good thing to plan for the future and not to just live for today.
Thinking about these things reminds me of something in the Bible. The Bible speaks a lot about the future. First and foremost is where will we spend the future? There are only two possibilities. We will either be with God or we will be cast out and away form God.
If we have ever called upon Jesus Christ to be our personal Lord and savior, we are Heaven bound, (John 14:6). If not, we headed for a place of outer darkness and eternal suffering and torment, (Revelation 20:11-15).
For Christians their retirement comes as a package deal. We are told not to worry about it if we have trusted Christ, (John 14:1). Second, there is enough room for everybody and our permanent retirement dwellings are being built today, (John 14:2). Third, Jesus is coming to take us there, do not worry we will not miss the boat, (John 14:3).
I do not know about you but my wife and I are looking forward to our heavenly retirement.
See you in Church next Sunday. Brother J
Words of Encouragement-
by Pastor Rodney Tilley
I’ve just landed on Boardwalk and my son wants his rent money now. I am left only with Baltic Avenue and this game of Monopoly has come to another cruel heartless end as once again he takes all my money and leaves me penniless. My son is a tyrant, a land grabbing shyster, an uncompromising member of the mafia, a sadistic savage, a …..you get the picture. He plays to win and he doesn’t cheat, but by the end of the game, everybody is angry with him. He is sitting beside the board with his filthy cash flowing from his pockets, rich, but with the family vowing never to play Monopoly with him again. A tyrant I say.
It reminds me of the time when I had a debate at church on being a “pacifist,” and I won, or so it appeared to me, but years later the only things my opposing friend remembers is my arrogance and determination just to be right. I was right and it was good, good news for me. I had won the fight, but I had lost the war. I came across as sadistic and haughty, and with my ego in place, I found myself in the camp with those whose pride puts them alongside the Pharisees and Sadducees.
As Christians, we too can puff up with pious and holy living, and relate how we are perfect in Christ. We’ve heard the gospel; we have the good news. We talk about those in the “dark” as if they were aliens who recently landing on our planet. We, and only we, have found the light and we know it. But as Rob Bell writes, “Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn’t as bright as it could be.
We must understand that if the gospel is good news, then it is good news for everyone.”
The “good news” is that the church is not where winners gather to bask in their righteousness; it is where losers proclaim the good news of losing; losing sin, losing pride, and losing the battle. I do not know about you, but I am tired of trying to be first, to be number one, to be on top. I am ready to let Christ win.
And besides, Baltic Avenue is not much to look at and who wants Boardwalk anyway?
