EDISON’S INVENTION

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 199

Just walked through the door after an almost 12-hour day, minus two quick breaks for lunch and supper, which means I have every intention of making this one poignantly short. We’ll see if I can live up to that.

Well… I had every good intention of making last night’s iteration the final chapter in the ongoing saga of Schott’s Stye beneath the starry skies… but I guess that was an unintentional Freudian slip. Tonight’s iteration is gonna continue and—hopefully—bring the definitive closing chapter to our story.

After drafting tonight’s pastoral devotion for my council meeting, I realized I left out a key part for which I’m uber-grateful. Forgive me for this, but I’m straight-up plagiarizing what I wrote for the council, because these words are truer than ever.

Kicking things off, I read some of King Solomon’s wisdom from the fourth chapter of Proverbs. The Wise King said:

"Listen, my son. Accept my words, and you will live many years. I am teaching you the way of wisdom; I am guiding you on straight paths…. The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday. But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don’t know what makes them stumble."

Anywho, being up there in the middle of nowhere under the pitch-black of night reminds me of Solomon’s words. Alls I can say is thank goodness for headlamps for the forehead, flashlights, and headlights on our cars—‘cause it was so dark up there I couldn’t see the front of my nose… almost.

If you’ve ever been under totally dark skies with no streetlights, you get the idea. Could you imagine trying to walk on a path through the tall grass, or heaven forbid, drive your car in the darkest of night without some source of light to guide your way? It could, and mostly likely would, go very badly.

Without God’s light guiding our way, it’d be too easy to wreck our lives—or the lives of our loved ones, friends, and strangers even. Goodness, I know that all too well. My life before coming back to the Lord was practically a train wreck. And I believe that’s exactly what Solomon was trying to teach his son.

Monday morning, had I not had my headlamps or the lights on my car, I wouldn’t have been able to capture those shots or get home. I mean, I wouldn’t have been able to walk without falling on my face, or light paint the barn, or see my camera, let alone run up and down the road like a madman trying to capture the shots as you see them today. And the drive home—impossible without the headlights. Honestly, I wouldn’t have made it 100 yards down the gravel road without running off into the ditch.

Thank goodness Edison invented the lightbulb, and for God giving him the inspiration to do so. But more so, I am so thankful for the Lord, who is our light—He who lights our paths and keeps us safe in all ways: literal and spiritual.

Anyway, let us all thank the Lord today for giving us the wisdom to be guided by the light of his Son Jesus Christ, so that we can save ourselves and others from sheer disaster. Amen?

What are you thankful for today?