Stump is an Advent blogging project of Claremont Presbyterian Church. It’s 30 days of posts exloring the symbolism of The Jesse Tree by members of the CPC family far and wide.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”…this phrase from a familiar song popped into my head when I learned that “lamp” would by my prompt word. The specific image of a lamp that came to mind was one that was used in biblical times…that of a simple clay vessel with a spout to one side, filled with oil and a wick coming out the spout. This is not a major light source. In fact it would probably barely light up a small room.
I’m reminded of those bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom to come and the good bridesmaids had extra oil, the bad ones did not. Probably the light from all available lamps would have been necessary for any significant amount of light, so having some lamps not available negatively impacted everyone.
If one is walking down a path with one of these lamps, you probably cannot see more than a few steps ahead at a time. You must proceed down the path one confident step at a time, trusting that when you need to see the next part of the path it will be illuminated but not before you need to see it. But the path is there, and it is lit, and the next step must be taken if we are to get anywhere.
Often we are anxious to see the end of the path. But with this lamp you must trust that you will get there. If we can learn to focus on one step at a time and trust that we are on the right path, we can enjoy each step…feel the earth, look only at what we can immediately see…then when we get to the end of the path, we can reflect back and appreciate the journey.
Our job is here is to keep the lamp lit, and follow the path. Sometimes we don’t want to do either. Keeping the lamp full of oil, or having the patience to follow this dimly lit path sometimes seem arduous, or pointless, or just too much effort. But we can’t deny our journey, it is before us. So we take one barely lit step at a time. We might keep the lamp lit by reading the bible, hearing a sermon, praying being with other believers, or whatever keeps your lamp going. For me one of those things is choreographing, for others it might be writing, or painting, or reading, walking, running, mountain bike riding, skiing, playing an instrument, singing. All our “lamps” are unique, but properly attended to they will light our path, but only one step at a time. So we must keep at it. We must keep our lamps lit.
Kathy Croughan lives in California with her husband and two sons, all engineers. To keep her sanity, or to prove she’s insane, she can sometimes be found dancing around the pews at Claremont Presbyterian Church.
YoRocko! 