When all other lights go out

I recently sacrificed 11 hours and 22 minutes of my life watching The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Again.

And that doesn't count food, ice cream, and potty breaks.

It is my "comfort-binkie" when I am weary of the world and the direction it is heading...when hope is fading and evil seems to be winning.

It reminds me that someday, Good will win...no matter how dark and hopeless things seem now.

So this morning as I was praying for the many people I know who are battling sickness of body, mind or spirit, I found myself saying...

"Don't let their light go out"...which is not something that I normally pray!

Instantly I was reminded of the scene in Lord of the Rings when Frodo receives the Light of Earendil from Galadrial...

"May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out."

Now, I don't pretend to be a Tolkien scholar...there are a bunch of those out there who have invested their lives in studying his writings.

And I am not one of them.

But I got to thinking about this idea of light and immediately one of my favorite passages in the Bible came to mind, John 1:1-5:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was in the beginning with God. And all things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. 

In Him was the life, and the life was the Light of me. 

The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it."

Bingo! The last verse...

The fine art of pendulum swinging

I don't know about you, but I feel like I live in a daily state of repentance.

Sometimes I wonder if my brain and my heart have even the remotest of relationships.

I mean really, how many times do I find myself thinking the same stupid thing over and over again, only to have to ask forgiveness for it?

Or doing the same stupid thing over and over?

Or saying the same stupid thing over and over?

You get the point.

The other day my daughter posted a parody on Facebook of what "Christian road rage" looks like.

Sadly, it looked a wee bit like me at rush hour in Charlotte.

But what made the biggest impression on me was the pendulum swing in this guy from rage to repentance...back and forth, back and forth...

I mean, he knew what he was doing was wrong but he kept doing it anyway!

Just like me.

Let me give you an example...