A few days ago, I whiled away the early evening as I watched a Christmas flick where the hero made a complete fool of himself trying to put more lights on his house than anyone else on the planet. You know this one? He was totally obsessed with lights in every way shape and form. I thought, “That’s just nuts,” and then I walked outside. All of my neighbors (no it’s true!) were putting up Christmas lights.
*Lights on the roof.
*Lights on reindeer
*Lights around the front door
*Lights on the windows and in the windows
*Lights that blinked and lights that didn’t blink
*Lights sans color
*Lights of every color
There were displays of Santas that heaved with air inside and they were lit up! (Scary. It was actually a balloon filled with air, but still… Santa “breathing” like the last chimney was going to give him a heat attack? The sound was awful.)

We had put up our Christmas tree a few days previous. You could see it in the front window of the house, so we had lights that decorated the house… well, sort of. Now it was me who was thinking lights lights lights. Carolyn to Hubby: “Let’s take a walk around the block and see the lights!” And we did.

Every house looked magnificent! Our neighborhood was really into celebration mode. And we began to get caught up as we viewed the Las Vegas like venue of the area. We chattered away recalling when we use to put lights on our house. They were the white ice sickle type lights that hung around the edge of our Arizona residence. And there was the Mother Mary with Baby Jesus that sat outside our front door. She had sort of a glow about her that changed from blue to green to lavender, and back to blue again.

Carolyn: “Hmmm…. Let’s put up our lights.”
Hubby: “Hmmm… (He knew that when SHE said “Let’s” it meant YOU.) “I guess we can do that,” he said. And “she” let out a squeal of joy!

So off we went to buy lights. Excited like kids (well I was) we jumped into the car and hurried on down to our local Walmart. The parking lot was jammed with shoppers. Shopping carts were everywhere… In the middle of the lot, in the middle of the road, and taking up parking spaces. They were stuffed in the cart bin which was over-flowing. Mothers were dragging their toddlers into the store. Fathers were hustling to the door as they checked their blackberries. A car honked at one man as he stepped out in front of the moving vehicle. The guy didn’t even look up from his texting… just kept heading for Walmart, the king of stores that has all your shopping needs.

Inside we could hear nothing but adults talking, carts banging, and children mostly crying or arguing with their siblings. Underneath it all was the buzz of canned holiday music and various announcements to we holiday shoppers. Hubby and I headed for the Christmas section and quickly found the lights we needed. We were off to pay and be out of there.

Lines. Every checker had a line that leaned aggressively toward the rear of the store. It didn’t matter which one we picked; they were all of them long enough to keep us there until way past dark. So we split up and each stood in a different line, thinking that this way one would get to a checker faster and the craziness would end. (This is of course like buying five tickets in the lottery instead of one. But we did it anyway because we needed hope!) Finally we paid and got out of there. The two of us hustled to the car, leaped in to just sat there. Ah! Silence! Our ears were ringing from all that noise.

Half recovered, Hubby headed us home into the darkness of the night. As we pulled into the driveway glad to be moving into stage two of our plan, I looked up at our tree shining through the living room window. The very top string of lights on our tree was not lit. I said, “Oh no! The top of the tree isn’t lit up.”

Screech! Halt! We came to a grinding stop in the middle of the driveway. Hubby considered the tree.

He looked straight ahead, hands gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. He looked my way… Then He looked straight ahead again. A low and ruffled sigh, that seemed to barely replace the obscenities he seemed eager to spit, rolled from his gut through his nostrils. Finally one hand came off the wheel and pointed in my direction. “Open the door.” I did that. “Get out.”

I’m thinking to myself, “How did we so quickly go from the energetic ‘Let’s do lights’ to ‘Get out of the car’?” Again Hubby spoke. It was slow and over controlled… “Out. Now.” Oops. Maybe I should have waited from a more propitious moment to mention the tree lights. (“A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.” _ Oliver Wendell Holmes)

I decided that obedience was the better part of valor, so out I went and headed into the house and as far away from where I thought he might be going. Hours later Hubby came to me and gave me a hug and a smile. I wanted to ask about the lights, but I knew it would be a death sentence to bring it up. I left him there in the bedroom and went to take a look at the tree.

The lights on the top of the tree had been replaced with what appeared to be the lights we purchased for the outside of the house. The lights he replaced from the top of the tree were lying on the floor plugged into a wall socket… and working again. (There is a Christmas tree light phantom in our house. I hope he’s done!) I opened the front door and stepped outside to take a last look at the neighbors’ lights before bed. Standing in the middle of the driveway I considered the beauty. “Is it worth all that we go through to make our homes shine? Isn’t the radiance of life itself and a God that loves us enough?

I turned to go back inside. “Oh my gosh! He did it!” And I laughed right out loud starring at the three light bulbs in our entryway that had been changed out (all three) from white to blue and green. (Thank God he didn’t do red… that would have been a travesty!) Hubby had decorated the outside of our house! Simple but elegant!

Lights. We love them and they are like children that won’t obey. This Temple House does not look like the many lights I saw in the movie nor does it radiate like our neighbors. But, at least if these Christmas lights go out, only a single light bulb has to be changed.

May your life be filled with light, in the smiles of others, and from heaven above!

Best… Carolyn Thomas Temple