Torch

Morning Light

May 2011

2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

My friends called me "Torch" in high school chemistry class. Not because I was brilliant in the subject, but because I could never figure out how to light a Bunsen burner without throwing the flame to the ceiling. As soon as I turned on the spigot to release gas into the burner's line while I held my flint lighter snapping beside it, twenty teenagers would scramble away from their lab tables toward far corners of the room shouting, "It's Torch!  Get the fire extinguisher ready!"

I cringed in embarrassment, sparked the gas flowing out of the line with the lighter, and then SWOOSH!!!!! quicker than I could blink, flames shot to the ceiling.

Time after time.

No matter how often my beleaguered teacher taught me proper etiquette for lighting a burner, I still managed to make a torching flame of  rainbow-fire colors fly heavenward.

One song my husband, John's, three- and four-year old class at church sings is "This Little Light of Mine."  He gives the kids cheap flashlights to use as they sing. The kids delight in playing with the flashlight in a darkened room as they belt out the tune in their loudest little-kid voices. They shine their lights on each other, on John, and at the ceiling.

One of the verses of the song admonishes the singers not to hide their light under a bushel.  These kids have too much fun lighting their world to even consider hiding it from anyone. As they wave the flashlights, their eyes animate, their faces shine, not so much from the flashlights, but from an inner light inside them. They radiate. God's light shines through them clearly and they brighten the dark room.

I'm not sure I radiated as much as I blushed in high school when I let my light "shine" in the classroom. However,  I hope the light and fire of God's spirit radiates from within me just as it does in John's children.

People need to see I am "on fire" for my Lord.

Call me Torch if you want.
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Dear Lord, let your light shine in me always. May your torch guide my path.