Smart Lights

I have been told many times that opposites attract. Often this is never more true than in marriage. Jim and I have different opinions about taste, temperature, sports teams, etc. However, one of the few things we agree on is Christmas decorating. We both love Christmas and look forward to trimming out the house and trees. We especially like things that light up. I prefer more subtle lighting like lanterns and candles, and lights on trees must be white. We are polar opposites as Jim prefers colored lights. It’s what I like to refer to as his Vegas approach to lighting up our dwelling. I often have warned our kids that should I move to heaven first, they will have to reign in their dad at the yuletide season because otherwise, it is possible that first, our neighborhood could experience a brownout due to the volume of lighting.

Second, we live near the airport, and I am confident if Jim had his way, our house could be seen at 30,000 feet or even outer space, and his zeal could well interfere with air traffic. The more, the better! However, this year we experienced a unifying moment of lighting while shopping for a new tree. We discovered “smart lights.” The smart light science claims that even if one bulb gets loose or burns out, the rest of the tree will remain lit! I don’t know about your experiences, but for us, we have almost ended up at a duel at literal dawn over checking strands and strands of Christmas lights that work when you “test”them and then when they are put in place, off they go.

One Christmas in particular, I thought I would throw fruitcakes if I heard the question, “Are they on? one more time. So when we discovered the smart lights, we knew it would be wise to make a slightly more significant financial investment and preserve peace and goodwill at the Bundo household. One thing we found disappointing is we noticed that trees with smart lights had fewer lights overall than traditional prelit trees. For instance, a prelit tree with standard lights could have 3000 lights, but the smart trees sometimes had a thousand fewer lights. Still curbing Jim’s enthusiasm for more, we went the route of the smart light purchase. We agreed that in this case, more was not better.

Christmas lights were a tradition started in 16th century Germany and was initiated by Martin Luther. This was a testimony celebrating that Christ is the Light of the world and that we, in turn, could be a light to others. This perspective is biblically solid and reflects the truth that Christ proclaimed, “I am the Light of the World.” Christ tells us that whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life. I can’t help but think of the science behind smart lights when I look at these words. Though the world tries to offer me many other sources of Light to live by, like the Light temporarily cast off by silver and gold, or the spotlight on the stage of life fueled by the applause of mankind and their approval of me, these sources have proven to be unreliable. Often they are overshadowed or diminished by the Light pollution created by the Light in my own eyes of self-pride and human wisdom. For sure, their energy source runs out before my need for illumination passes. Then there is the Light of fun and leisure. Bright, even blinding at times but still doesn’t have the science of smart lights. When one source of fun goes dark, my view of contentment often goes with it like a burned-out flashlight with corroded batteries.

The Light that Christ is in my life is not just illuminating, He is not just a spiritual lightbulb, but He is the source of Light itself. He is not dependent on some cosmic extension cord that pulls Light from galaxies or the brightest star. He is also independent of the need for light regeneration. This means His Light that He shares aren’t going to fail or at some point result in a spiritual blackout or brownout while His batteries recharge. The Light of Christ is constant, powerful, and ignites any and every spark of anything that reflects Light in this universe or all of heaven. It never dims, cannot be extinguished through the enemy tries to hand out sunglasses on a regular schedule, telling us the Light of Christ maybe a little too bright for our eyes and may cause a glare in those around us. The best part for me is that it has long had the science of smart lights before time ever was established. This means in my own life, things like loose or burned out bulbs don’t extinguish the Light Christ offers the Light I can reflect on me. A loose bulb for me can be worry or frustration over my circumstances. Lack of faith can be a perpetual loose bulb in my life strand of lights. Like a flickering bulb, my faith can be on and off sometimes, even in the same hour that I would short circuit if not for the grace of Jesus. But just like the smart lights on my tree, the Light of Christ keeps my life illuminated, keeps on shining on me though some bulbs stay loose and sometimes dim my Light on others. Then sometimes bulbs just go out. Burned out, fried by trying to generate power to light up my life on my own.

I try to make bad things sunny on my own. Folks I thought I could rely on abandoning me, health fails, raises don’t come, cost of living goes up. Masks and vaccines don’t offer guarantees; church disappoints. Traffic stinks. The list is endless. While a great attitude of thankfulness helps, it takes more than the power of positive thinking to keep our hearts bright and our eyes clear. It takes the Light of Christ to keep our strand lit when darkness threatens to put it out! Some bulbs might never burn again, but because I’m trusting the source of Light Himself, He can use whatever I have left to shine all the more brightly. My less is always always His more.

This year as I move into the Christmas season, I realize all the more that the world seems darker, sadder. There is such a need now more than ever that we shed the Light of Christ into the dim shadows of relationships, our neighborhoods, and even our churches. Our workplaces, our play places need heavenly sunlight to let in. God reminds me I can be a conduit of His Light even with loose or burned-out bulbs. I can be light in a dark place. I need to take off the shade of fear and bring the hope of Christ and His warm love to every dark corner of my life He leads me to. I can do this because Jesus is the Light of the world. Brighter than the sun, more help than the moonlight, more wondrous than the star over Bethlehem that guided the wise men. His Light existed when the world was without form and was dark. He will be the source of Light in heaven eternally.

Lord, this Christmas, let this little Light of mine shine, let it shine, let it shine till you come back. Help me not let the enemy blow it out. Help me keep my promise not to hide it when the world complains it is too bright or annoying. Thank you, Lord, that the Light you have given me is the smartest Light of all. It’s you, Jesus, all you.

Next time join us in the vineyard where the 5 o’clock worker is reminded who the true vine is.