Robert Louis Stevenson tells of...
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Robert Louis Stevenson tells of a delightful memory he had of a summer spent in northern Scotland when he was a boy of 12. Toward the end of September, when school time was drawing near and the nights were coming early, Stevenson and his friends would buckle tin lanterns to their waists and button their top coats over them. The lanterns smelled, never burned bright or right, and would always burn their fingers. But the boys didn't mind those inconveniences.
When they met in the darkness of the night, there would be the anxious question, "Have you got your lantern?" Then the gratified answer would be given, "Yes, I do!" The boy would then open his coat, pull down the sides of the lantern, and let his light shine. Stevenson titled this story, The Lantern Bearers.
That's what we are to be. That's what the Christian church is. We are a community of "lantern bearers." Some of us remember the words of an old song, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine ..."
--Kirby
When they met in the darkness of the night, there would be the anxious question, "Have you got your lantern?" Then the gratified answer would be given, "Yes, I do!" The boy would then open his coat, pull down the sides of the lantern, and let his light shine. Stevenson titled this story, The Lantern Bearers.
That's what we are to be. That's what the Christian church is. We are a community of "lantern bearers." Some of us remember the words of an old song, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine ..."
--Kirby
