I’m wondering if you can become more klutzy as you get older. I wouldn’t say that I have the greatest hand eye coordination but I’ve always been able to negotiate my way around things.

But not last night. I was working at the church and had gone out to run an errand. When I came back, I didn’t turn on any lights except for in my office. So, by the time I was done for the night, the church was pitch black dark.

The church foyer is pretty open so I made my way across it to the stairs. I started down the stairs and right near the bottom something caught my eye. It may have been a reflection or something but I looked up and then missed the last one or two stairs.

Well that was it – it would have made a great video! I sprawled out, my computer bag went flying, and I landed hard on both knees, which are not the greatest to begin with.

I rolled on the ground for a second, waiting for the pain to subside, then stood up, grabbed my bag and left. No harm, no foul. No one saw my wipe out. I didn’t suffer any kind of injury. But I felt pretty dumb.

When I was in my teens my bedroom was in the far end of our basement. There were two flights of steps to go down, and to get to my room I had to walk through two other rooms.

Instead of turning on a light at the top of the stairs, then turning on a light in my room and going back to the top of the stairs to turn that light out again, I would just make my way to my room in the dark.

I not only had the stairs to contend with, but I had couches, lamp stands, and any number of other objects that would be in my way. But I made it; I never fell down the stairs, never banged my knee into a door frame.

What happened to me last night, I don’t know. I’m just glad I wasn’t chewing gum at the same time; it might have been a disaster.

I know some people would try to tell me that I should look where I’m going. But really, I’ve been walking for well over 50 years! I think by now I should be able to cheat on that a little bit and get away with it.

Every morning I walk down a dark hallway, turning a Q-tip in my ear, and so far I haven’t jammed my elbow against the wall and sent that Q-tip clean through to my other ear.

Maybe my fall was an isolated incident, some kind of fluke that won’t happen again. Or maybe it’s the start of a clumsiness that will find me in traction drinking through a straw!

I guess I will just have to see what happens.

Here’s the thing: In the dark, even a glint of light catches our attention. Our eyes are drawn to it. But in the light, these little glints aren’t even noticeable. God has given us a great light in the Bible, and if we will read it, know it, and use it, all the little theories, fads, and ideas won’t distract us and cause us to fall.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your greatest source of distraction? Leave your comment below.