NOT this Little Light of Mine

There are 2 things I have learned tonight... 3 for which I am grateful.

1. No matter how many you live through, power outages never get easier.

2. It is extremely difficult to check for chicken pox/shingles using only a flashlight and a mirror.

3. A bedroom has significantly more light when a candle is placed in front of a mirror.

I don't know why I've never thought of it before... placing a candle in front of a mirror. Maybe it's because after leaving the classroom, I try to forget that I know things like Laws of Plane Mirror Reflection and the principles of refraction which cause candle glow. Maybe it's because I have only recently brought back the lovely, Ikea taper candle holders which my sister-in-law encouraged me to buy (Thank you, Erin, they really come in handy!) Or maybe its because my mirror is on the other side of my bedroom and when I'm reading by candlelight, I tend to put the candles on my bedside table. Regardless of the reason, tonight, during one of our many scheduled power outages, I placed a taper candle in front of my dressing table mirror and marveled at the many things I was suddenly able to see.

and then the song "This Little Light of Mine" suddenly started to bother me. Yes, Jesus is the Light of the World. Yes, we are His hands and feet. But I can't help wondering if the church would be better off if we all spent less time worrying about how we are going to shine our own lights and spent more time trying to reflect His.

So perhaps instead of "taking the light to this darkened world" we should be thinking, "You know, Jesus is the Light. Let's all go be mirrors!"