I have one of those Zippo Lighters that you refill with lighter fluid from time to time. I don’t smoke or have a frequent need to make fire…. I just have a lighter. You should have seen the guy’s face at the smoke shop when I bought it too. “I want to buy a lighter. Maybe something less than 40-bucks,” I told him. To narrow down the field, he asked me, “Why do you smoke?” I answered that I don’t smoke, never have, got no plans to start. So he asked why I wanted a lighter. I honestly told him I had no idea. (I think that’s probably about when he would push the little button behind the counter, but nevermind.” So I spent right at $20 to get a zippo lighter. He filled it with fluid for me, and told me I’d need to buy a little can of lighter fluid too. So I did. Done.
As I said, I don’t smoke or light many fires, so about four weeks later I was completely shocked when I tried to light it and it wouldn’t light. I pulled it apart, and the cotton core was dry cotton. So I filled it. Next month, dry. Filled it again. And so on. Yes there are some times when it’s been great that I had fire right with me, but not often.
There was a Peptic-Bismal commercial years ago that had the actor telling the audience, “It’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.” That’s true enough, I guess. And there’s nothing wrong with me having a lighter … as long as TSA and I don’t have to meet before a trip. But here’s the rub:
Like a lot of areas in life, if I don’t refuel it, refill it, recharge it, whatever, when I need to use that area of life it might be dry and unable to light up. In the real world, a man can’t spend a couple hours working out, a couple hours with the Lord, a couple hours with the family, a day full of hours working, and a couple hours maintaining the home, and still have enough time to sleep long enough, stop and rest while I eat my meals, or simply be creative. So we have to pick and choose, don’t we?
That little lighter has been such an inspiration to me. My super-conservative circles point and want an explanation why I’m carrying a “cigarette lighter.” (Notice I never call it that, but ‘they’ certainly do.) My more liberal circles delight in relating to me since I carry a lighter now. It’s not a tattoo, but okay. But that little lighter reminds me that I need to get refilled frequently throughout my day. Refilled talking with God (we call that prayer.) Refueled eating a good meal. Recharge getting a good night’s sleep. Researching by reading and investigating. Re-younameit, by still going through that process: open it up, check if it’s empty, fill it without spilling any wastefully overflowing. Put the thing back together and light her up.
If you’ve ever gone too far between refreshing, you know what I mean. Proactively taking inventory of myself and filling my tanks up is the only way I’ve found to keep going in this life. Go get yourself a Zippo lighter and it will remind you of what you’ve missed too.
