We ate dinner at the dining table on the 1st of December when suddenly the electricity tripped. The house plunged into darkness, and this stillness took hold of the nearby suburbs. The silence was soon disturbed by the sound of roaring generators from our neighbours. The power remained out for 12 days, tripped once more, and then restored a day later, so essentially 13 days without electricity.
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| Darkness as we took an evening walk, 6 December 2021 |
No electricity for almost two weeks makes you aware of how dependent our lives are on power. Dry ice helped keep items cool in the fridge for two days but was an expensive solution. Food needed to be transferred to a cooler box with fresh ice every second day to keep it cool. Hot running water to wash dishes or bathe little babies was unavailable. So the old-school way of heating pots of water on gas resurfaced. We needed to buy oil lamps to have some candlelight to light the darkness in the evening. The WiFi router was a nice ornamental feature, lifeless and useless without power.
The days were spent working in places with electricity and WiFi access and power to charge battery lights and power banks. Leaving your home was inconvenient and challenging, which became a shelter with little use.
However, after day two of no power, the detachment from electricity introduces a new comfort amid the nothingness. Noah and Leo would fall asleep easier under candlelight illuminating the nativity scene and Christmas lights.
I recall when I was younger, with power outages. I used to get sad when the power came back on, as life without power brought some hidden sense of excitement (I know that probably sounds absurd). The past two weeks reignited that similar experience (to an extent).
Since the early Christians, detachment or voluntarily living without some luxury has been a Christian idea. We recall when St. Peter questioned a married couple about lying about the actual value of a piece of land they sold. Their donation from the profits was an attempt to cheat and hide the selling price. Peter lets them know they lied against the Holy Spirit, and in a dramatic turn of events, they dropped dead and were carried off to be buried beside each other (Acts 5:1-11).
Suppose we don’t practice detachment from material things. In that case, we will surely not drop down dead like the married couple (phew). Still, we may leave this earth feeling empty, weighed down by the unimportant and immaterial things of this life. Detachment on earth helps prepare us for the attachment to God in heaven.
A cold shower is not lovely, but denying ourselves a warm shower tempers our souls like steel in a fire every now and then. Psssh, come again! How so? A cold shower without an intention in mind is pointless and requires no willpower. Still, a cold shower in thanksgiving for warm running water and a warm bed (unlike the poor man sleeping underneath the bridge) makes denying that luxury a little easier. Our minds are stronger than we think, but we can accomplish the impossible if we suffer for and with Christ. St. Lawerence died a martyr roasted on an iron grid underneath burning hot coals. It is said that after suffering for a long time, he cheerfully exclaimed: “I’m well done on this side. Turn me over!”
Humans can adapt and teach ourselves to constantly grow out of our comforts to benefit our minds, body, and souls. After having no option but to take cold showers when your geyser has been turned off for two weeks, your body starts to become accustomed to the cold water. In fact, it stops feeling like a sacrifice.
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| Solar Christmas lights outside our home, 14 December 2021 |
Christians do not deny things for fun. Instead, we can deny ourselves things in a prayer of petition for ourselves and others. If someone dear to us is suffering from a severe illness, we can accept the meek struggles on their behalf as a prayer for them. Lord, I choose to deny myself one less cappuccino a day. I offer this admin task I hate for a friend suffering from depression. I offer a teaspoon less sugar for someone who asked me to pray for them. No salt during dinner for the person who mistreated me or the suffering of an intense workout for the soul of a deceased loved one.
Denying things during the time of advent and entering into Christmas seems a little strange and should be reserved for lent. Well, not exactly. We anticipate receiving the most extraordinary gift mankind has ever received, the gift of the baby Jesus Christ (hence the word CHRISTMAS). We still have a few days left to prepare for the coming of Our Lord into our lives, and we can ensure that this Christmas does not pass us by as some event. We have hope that heaven awaits us because Mary gave God her “Yes”!
Christmas is the coming of the baby Jesus, and the celebration lasts 12 days, commonly known as the Christmastide. So as we prepare to receive Jesus, let’s do something special to spend time with the baby Jesus and saviour of the world from the 25th of December to the 5th of January. Some ideas I heard recently. The practice of fostering Christmas traditions. Perhaps, reciting scripture related to Christmas after dinner as a family, helping someone in need, or singing Christmas carols, among other things. Importantly we can use the downtime to spend more time in prayer.
Without power, Mary and Joseph would have brought their little baby into this world. Yet, their lives radiated such joy, happiness, and hope. Electricity is essential, and with technology, we all need it. In fact, it should be universally accessible to all homes. Although, maybe this advent spent without 13 days of power could have been the best start to prepare for the most important gift we could receive of Jesus Christ in our lives this Christmas. There were no distractions, simplicity of life, and no option but to accept the circumstances as technicians worked through the night and rain to rebuild a sub-station in less than two weeks. Let us discover how the circumstances God provides may allow us to draw nearer to him this Christmas.
“Detachment is not giving up the things in this world, but accepting the fact and to be continuously aware that nothing is permanent.” (Aditya Ajmera)
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