The Flashlight

Ready to leave to meet friends for ice cream, my daughter held something in her hand.
I got this in the beginning of the year and I forgot about it.
It was a key chain with her college logo on the front.
It’s a flashlight, she demonstrated as she pressed the button.

Put it with your keys, her oldest sister remarked.
The “just finished her freshman year of college” daughter cheerfully complied.
She left with the flashlight turned on for emphasis.
I smiled and watched her leave.

I have a pen in my purse from the salon I go to to get my hair cut.
It is an iPad stylus, a flashlight, and a pen all in one.
I know that I have a flashlight on my iPhone, but a three-in-one pen is handy.
You never know when you may need a little light.

A few hours later my daughter came home.
Mom, this flashlight will not turn off.
Sure enough, the key chain with her college logo was shining brightly.
The LED light illuminated her path.

I imagined her with the keys shining like a beacon in her hand.
Let me try, thinking my mother know-how would kick in and save the day.
She handed me the little flashlight.
I pushed the button naively assuming that would solve the problem.

Nothing happened.
I think we should just throw it out, Mom; I have tried everything.
I was determined to turn the flashlight off.
I pressed harder each time and the light never even flickered.

I didn’t want to throw it away.
It had her college logo on it.
But this flashlight was making me very annoyed.
There was no explanation as to why the light remained on.

You really don’t want this? I asked making sure.
No, it’s OK, she said.
The challenge was on!
I would turn off this flashlight!

I used a screwdriver handle to push the button with a bit more direct force.
I used a little hammer and gently tapped the back with focused precision.
I used my Pampered Chef Ice cream scoop that is heavy and reliable.
I put the flashlight on a cutting board and hit the back with the ice cream scoop.

Nothing!
The light remained on.
Not a flicker.
This flashlight was indestructible.

Knowing my daughter truly did not want the flashlight I tried the next thing.
I would step on it.
That would have to work.
How many times have I broken something because I accidentally stepped on it?

I put the flashlight with the college logo on the floor and stepped on the back.
Nothing!
The light remained on.
Not a flicker.

I turned and looked for the hidden camera.
I felt like someone must be watching me fight with a flashlight.
No camera, there was no one around.
Just my nemesis and me.

My husband was already in bed, so I purposed to ask him in the morning.
Now the back of the flashlight was scratched from my futile attempts.
I carried the relentless flashlight upstairs to bed.
Now my dilemma was where to put it so it would not bother my husband.

I decided to put it on my dressing table, facing towards a soap dish.
I forgot that there is a full mirror above the dressing table.
After I got in bed, the light made sinister shadows on the ceiling.
I wanted to open my balcony door and throw the flashlight outside in the woods.

When my husband came downstairs, I showed him the flashlight.
He looked at it, inspected it in his engineer way, and handed it back to me.
You just have to leave it on and let the battery run out.
Really? That’s it? That’s the engineer’s advice?

I put the interminable flashlight on top of an old tin in my kitchen.
It is somewhat out of sight.
I am curious to see how long the light will remain on.
I am intrigued.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

I want to be like that flashlight.
I want to be ever shining to the glory of God.
I don’t want my light to flicker or dim.
I want to be tenacious; I want my light to be seen even in adversity.

I want to shine!
I want to be a beacon for others.
I want a steady beam of Light to exude from every part of me.
I want to light the path of those who need to know the Way.

God uses the most absurd things to point us to Himself.
A little flashlight with a college logo demonstrated dogged determination.
Everything I tried to do was hopeless against the steady beam of light.
Oh that I may shine like that for Him.