A Light Called Karl

I had a lightbulb named Bob. It lived in the fan that was over our dining room table. There were four bulbs on the fan. Three of them worked well, but one of them didn’t. It worked intermittently.  I don’t recall how Bob was named. Maybe it was Holly, my daughter, who named it Bob. But somehow, it came to be called Bob. In his defense, it wasn’t his fault, that bulb worked fine, the problem was the wiring in the fixture. But Bob got the blame. And we talked about him as we wiggled the bulb to get it to work. 

For twenty five years we lived with Bob and our fan with three bulbs. There is something to be said about a contractor who lived with Bob and his shenanigans for that long.  But that is not what we are talking about.  Eventually the fan was replaced with a new fixture, one with 5 bulbs that all work. Before throwing out the fan,  I saved “Bob the bulb” to show to my kids. I thought I would give them a way to show respect to a friend from way back. And we laughed, I am not sure if that was respectful or not?

Apparently, there is now a light called Karl. And we are not talking about a light bulb, but an actual light fixture. Whoo whoo, I feel honored. I know there are lots of buildings named after people, but I wonder how many people have a light named after them. John D. Rockefeller, who had a center named after him, Walt Disney, who had a land, and then a world, named after him, and of course, Donald Trump, whose name was used on everything he built, but none of them, as far as I know, have a light fixture name after them. So, I am honored.

This is how it came to be. A friend of mine asked me if I was able to do some handiwork. I said maybe, it depends on how I feel. And he graciously said, let’s try it. If it is too much for you, don’t worry, I will hire an electrician.

The job seemed pretty easy. Relocating a light in the ceiling to line up with the dining table. After about an hour of cutting a hole and relocating the electrical box we were ready to mount the light.  Or so I thought. As I was checking the circuit nothing worked. The switch didn’t work, the plug on the other side of the room didn’t work, the light on the porch didn’t work.

So I went up in the attic and checked the junction box we installed. Everything seemed fine. So to make a long story short, after 6 hours, a fried switch, a broken breaker, and a trip to Lowes, we had light.

So the question remains, am I able to do some handiwork. You decide.

What happened to make a two hour project into a six hour adventure. A switched neutral. Not unheard of, but super rare. I have probably installed a thousand light fixtures in my life. All of them, except one, had a switch for the hot side of the circuit.  Well, I guess now it is two.  What happened the first time, my son, who was working for me, was shocked. I checked the switch and told him it was off, and he got zapped. Oops, sorry about that. Normally they switch the hot side of the circuit, that way you can’t be shocked if the switch is off. They also tell you to flip the breaker off, so there is no electricity anywhere. Did I learn my lesson? Nope.  

My friend I was working for was so gracious. It took me 6 hours to do what should have happened in two. After we were done, he told me he was naming his new light Karl.  And he suggested that maybe I should post something about this on my blog. So I am. I want to tell you about the light named Karl who has a switched neutral. 

Electricity runs through the wires in our homes. Typically there are two wires bundled together in something called Romex, actually 3 with the ground, but the ground isn’t needed for the electricity, it is for safety.  One of the wires is called the hot side, and the other one is called the neutral, together they make a circuit. The electricity starts in the hot wire, and returns in the neutral. It makes a loop. That is why it is called a circuit, starting in the hot and returning in the neutral. If we switch one of the wires, either one, that circuit is broken and the electricity doesn’t “work”.  But typically the hot wire is what is switched so there is no power running up to the light. The neutral wire is always connected. So why does it matter to me that the light named Karl has a switched neutral. 

I’m pretty sure you have no idea what I’m talking about, and probably wondering if I have lost my mind. Yeah, I often wonder that as well. 

So, after some writing practice, there is actually something I want to say. As I pondered about this post, I realized that my friend didn’t say anything new. There was already a light called Karl, a light called Karl Hostetler. 

This is what God says:

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16 NKJV

That is what God says…about me. That blows me away. The responsibility I have, the opportunity that I have, to bring light to a world that is living in darkness.

I can remember singing this song as a young child. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine.”  I can remember the next verse. “Hide it under a bushel? no” and we would all yell “No!”. Because it was fun to yell “No”.  Unfortunately, I didn’t understand what I was singing about.  

As a teenager, I was ashamed of my faith. I took that light named Karl and I hid it under a bushel. At 18 years old, I recommitted my life and my faith became important. But that light didn’t shine very brightly. Not in the world anyways. I would let it shine some at church, around people to believe as I believed. But not out there in the world because it was scary and dark. I had a light, and I didn’t use it, because it was too dark. How messed up is that.  I just didn’t get it. Too often, instead of putting that lamp on a stand where it could give light to those living in darkness, I put it under a bowl. I said that I am honored that someone would call a light fixture Karl, instead I feel ashamed. Ashamed that I hid the light named Karl. 

The light that I have is not powered from my side. It is powered from God. It means that there is nothing needed from me to produce light, It is always on. I suppose that is why people hide it under a bowl instead of just blowing it out.  It is sorta like a light with a switched neutral. God provides the power and that light shines, unless we switch off the neutral, unless we hide it under a bushel.

So, I am saying it again, actually I am yelling it again, NO. Not because it is fun to yell no. Actually the opposite is true. It is scary to say no to “hiding it under a bushel”, and instead, venture into the darkness. But the switch is staying on.  

There is a light named Karl. Unfortunately, it has a switched neutral. The first time I encountered a switched neutral my son was shocked. The second time, I burned up a switch and a breaker.  What will happen this time with the light called Karl? Good things, as long as I don’t switch off the neutral.