Backyard Wisdom

On a weekend like this, we could all use some wisdom from a warmer day…

…The red lantern was one of the few remaining things from my parents’ house that, for some reason, I held onto. I’m not a huge fan of red, and its fuel-burning capabilities had been dismantled. But I kept it because it was a fixture at their front door, hanging off to the side as a symbolic beacon of welcome to all who entered there. Several times, I’ve walked around my house looking for an appropriate place to put it, but it always looked out of place. Several times, I was ready to send it to the recycling center, until I walked out onto the porch one night this summer…

“This must be the place for it. Totally rustic like the rusty old lantern.” Except even here, there was no place to safely hang it, and having it sit on the floor or a table just looked…strange. So, I took that red lantern in hand, resigned once and for all to put it in the garage next to the other recycling center things awaiting the next trip. I decided to take the more pleasant short cut to get there—out the screen door to the backyard. And there it was—the perfect spot, even though it had been probably staring at me for months:

On the top step leading to the porch. A beacon of welcome to all who entered there, even if that “all” in the backyard would be me nine times out of ten. I don’t think that was coincidence. And I don’t think family nostalgia was the story ending that God had in mind. Because as I tucked the lantern into the corner away from the elements and door slams, while there was no thunderous voice from heaven, I sensed something quite loud and familiar from within…

“Your Word is a lamp for my steps; It lights the path before me.”—Psalm 119:105

And now at home on that top bakyard step leading to the porch, that old red lantern now has a small LED within it, helping to remind me that:

• God’s guidance, protection, wisdom, discernment and direction are gifts…but I also need to walk them out every time I step out the door.
• I have a purpose every single day…Every routine, every conversation is an opportunity to make a difference because I carry the Light within me wherever I go. To remember what Jesus said and still says: "You are like that illuminating light. Let the light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and [who knows?] may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.” (Matthew 5:16, Voice)
• I carry a weapon of hope and praise…because that Light can break through someone’s dark and heavy mood, and through all the negativities and unknowns of life.
• I have the world’s most reliable GPS…God’s words of life and His presence within me help me to see and trust for what is ahead, even on those days when I can’t see one step in front of me.

And unlike the LED inside it, that old red lantern on the backyard step nevertheless reminds me that though I grow weary at times, my Light never goes out, never needs batteries or solar power, and never loses power—the Light of the world is always true and right, sometimes piercing but always faithful, sometimes mysterious but never wavering, and always shining for my good so as not to hog it to myself but to lovingly reflect Him in some way to those along my path.

And so, to live in such a way as this:

“We can be the Light of the world without leaving our high beams on and annoying everybody.”—Bob Goff