G is for GENERATOR

When the electric goes off, as it invariably does between autumn and spring in our part of the world, wife becomes a different person. Now, I'm not talking about a planned break in the electricity supply, due to maintenance or the like, where we get notice of the interruption days in advance. No, I'm thinking more of the results of a storm or some form of severe weather when our little pocket of houses, deep in the countryside, suddenly go dark when everywhere else I can see in the distance seems to be functioning normally. When this happens, you just know it's going to take hours to rectify so after ensuring that we are not alone in this dark world and having made a trip to the meter board to check the trips are OK, it's off to the phone to ring the 'hotline' and report the problem. This presents several problems at night. First, our main phone is powered by electricity but, since the rise of the mobile this had been less of an issue. Secondly, finding the number in the dark can be difficult, especially for those of us who already experience trouble reading the telephone directory in daylight. I use to store the number inside one of the kitchen doors but since they are all now in an outhouse and our kitchen is in a different place, this is not entirely helpful. Thirdly, having located a torch, one discovers that either (a) it is rechargeable and needs it done right now, or (b) that its batteries are flat or missing. So it's off to hunt for a candle. Now this is not a problem in our house as we have such an array of candles lit some nights, even when there is electricity, that I half expect a minister or priest to arrive in his robes and want to conduct a service! But matches are a different proposition altogether, for most of the people who light candles in our homestead either (a) cast aside the matchbox into any darkened corner once they see light, or (b) put the exhausted match back into the box where it mingles with those that still have energy to burn. It is not the first time that I have finally tracked down a full box of matches only to discover that they have all lost their heads! Anyway, eventually armed with candle light, a telephone directory and a mobile, the number is dialled. Now one of three things may happen. Either (a) the line is engaged because so many people are trying to do what I am doing, or (b) a recorded message from an anonymous individual informs me that 'we know you have a problem and we are doing all we can to rectify it,' (How do they know?) or (c) I get through to a real live person who takes my telephone number, asks me if I've checked the trips, if the dog hasn't eaten through the wires or if I've been putting on a rock concert that has blown a fuse. When I tell them that none of the above apply but that I am in fact stuck out in the middle of the country in my electric car, they don't seem very amused. Anyway, they inform me, just like the mystery voice, that they are aware of the problem and men are already dealing with it, though not to expect any power to return for several hours. I thank them and gently suggest that the tree I can see through my window, that blew down in the storm and is now balancing precariously against a transformer, generating all sorts of white lights and blue flashes might be worth investigating.

I have always promised myself that to prevent such events happening in the future, when bad weather threatens, I will invest in a generator. So far I have failed to heed my own advice though have made some initial preparations by installing a new hob above our cooker which now has two gas rings. Unfortunately, two years after its installation, I still haven't connected up a gas supply. But my intentions are good.

But to get back to the start of my story. When the electricity goes off, wife becomes a different person. To cut a long story short, she goes to bed, having lost all will to live in a house void of electricity. I can understand her reasoning at night when darkness pervades and the house is cold, so where could be warmer than bed, but to be settling down under the covers by five o'clock is probably a little extreme. To be honest, she's just not prepared for the inconvenience and disruption that a loss of power brings to her life and never seems keen to join me and a thousand candles in the living room. I guess men just never grow up and see the whole thing as one big adventure. Mind you, by the second or third day the excitement is wearing a bit thin.

When Jesus told the story about the ten virgins and their lamps in Matthew ch 25, He was reminding us that we do not know the moment when He will return but His advice was always to be ready. It's a bit late starting to look for a generator or a candle when the electricity has failed and likewise it's far too late and a lot more serious, starting to prepare for His coming when He has already been. And He warns us by ending the story with this saying, 'Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.'

Wife's strange behaviour has taught me something. Without His power in our lives, there is a strange emptiness to every day and life becomes dark and directionless. He's the source of power that never fails!