Uphill idealist

A few days ago, a friend told me a story about how in ancient times, leaders of a household would light a lantern at night so that people could move about the home safely. The images  I imagined were something like a three wick candle I might find at a gift shop or even  a red lantern I'd find in the camping section of a box store. But as she explained the type of lantern that these early peoples would have used, what came to mind was that looked like a botched pottery project. These lanterns were made of clay, formed into a bowl to hold the oil and one end was pinched into a narrow spout for a cloth wick to rest. Not only would this kind of ancient lantern not give off a ton of light, required the carrier to walk slowly as to not spill the oil, The lantern bearer had to take their time and travel one dimly illuminated step at a time. In Psalm 119: 105, the Psalmist who would have had personal experience with these ancient lamps writes...  "Your word is a lamp to my feet

As I was cleaning up my kitchen table after confectionery preparations for a party, I was struck by the persistence of the golden nonpareils that had been used to decorate cake pops. In my efforts to gather up all these tiny, sweet candies; I was reminded of friends of mine that while my husband and I were away for our honeymoon, had taken it into their hands to "decorate" our place with confetti on the ceiling fan, jello in the bathtub and (of course) nonpareils sprinkled all through my underwear drawer. For months, years and several moves later - the top drawer of that dresser made light tapping noises that were the never ending reminder of the permanence of nonpareils released to the wild of what we know as "life". Nonpareils while tasty (which may be their only redeeming quality) are much like glitter in their ability to stick around EVERYWHERE. While I enjoy glitter for it's light catching glimmer, it also has the same ability to resist containment.