The Flashlight Guy

I spent the past few weeks between seminary and moving to Oak Ridge, back home in Ohio visiting with my mom and grandparents, and covering the funeral home that I worked at before going to seminary, so the owner and his family could take a long needed vacation. The funeral home, located in Sugarcreek, Ohio, is right in the heart of Amish Country. Therefore, we would take care of about 90 percent of the Amish deaths.

Now to be Amish, there is a major requirement that one must follow. That is, when you die, you must die in the middle of the night. (I think that is one of the two questions they ask at their baptisms. I picture an Amish Baptism to go something like this. 1. Do you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior? 2. Do you promise to die in the middle of the night? By answering yes to both of these questions, you are baptized into the Amish Church.) I am not sure whether that is true but there is a pattern that when the Amish die, they die at home in the middle of the night.

For an “English” (non-Amish) family, this is not a problem, we get into the hearse and drive out to the house, usually they have the porch light on for us and we have no trouble finding the house. The Amish however, do not have electricity and therefore are not able to turn on a porch light. When you arrive at the home, which is on a road that is not to be found on yahoo maps, there is complete darkness. That is until the flashlight guy comes out of nowhere, and leads us into the oil lamp, nonair conditioned home to meet with the family and take the deceased into our care at the funeral home.

Now I have described this, not to give you a lesson on Amish funerals, but to talk about the flashlight guy. The flashlight guy, directing your path, is your only hope in not stumbling around in the dark and finding your way. At the point of meeting the flashlight guy, we can either follow him and his light into the home or stumble around in the darkness, running into trees, small animals, and other obstacles that get in the way. When you leave the home, the flashlight guy has become your most trusted friend.

Every time I see the flashlight guy, I am reminded of what Jesus said in John 8:12 when he said, “I am the world’s light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.” Just like the flashlight guy, during our darkest hours, Jesus can show up in our lives out of nowhere and lead us by his light. We of course have two choices, we can choose to follow in the light or we can wonder off on our own in the darkness stumbling through the obstacles of life that get in our way. It is my hope that when the flashlight guy shows up in the darkest hours of your life, that you will choose to follow him, because he will become your most trusted friend.

Published in the August edition of The Proclaimer, a monthly newsletter of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Oak Ridge

Something to Live By

The other night I read this statement on how to live life. It is something that immediately made me think. "Am I living this way? Can I live this way?" I have made it a goal to begin living this.

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at

death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained

passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail

without divine intervention. Keep asking questions.

Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Don't try to

be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit

holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Chase the lion!