“Your freezer door needs two hours of sunshine.”
My repairman here in Mexico explained that that would repair my water dispenser. Javier already had replaced two parts and duct-taped a couple more together, but after waiting for two days—as I was told—there still was no water. I phoned to tell him so.
“I will be over at 10:00 in the morning. We will take the door off, plastic wrap your freezer, and take your door into the sun for two hours. Then it will be fine.”
10:00—no Javier. 10:30—no Javier. At 11:00, I called him. “I am a little delayed. I will be there in an hour, Mexico time.” Everyone in Mexico knows what that means: either today or possibly next week.
Thankfully, Javier showed up “almost” on time.
I had phoned my friend, Lael, to share my story, and we were laughing about the “never say die” attitude of repair people here in Mexico. Nothing is beyond hope. When we hung up, I thought that the freezer is really no different than the rest of us. We all need sunshine. Most research states that Americans are deficient in Vitamin D, also referred to as “the sunshine vitamin.”
If you’ve ever had your bloodwork done, there’s a good chance you are on the low end of that necessary vitamin. The problem is, you might not know so until there are signs like weak bones, bone pain and muscle weakness. Other issues might show up in your nervous, muscle, and immune systems. Without those symptoms (or bloodwork), we can go on our merry way and not realize that we are in danger…until, regrettably, it’s too late. There is, however, a warning. Taking more than 50,000 IU daily of Vitamin D over long periods can lead to high blood levels of calcium (hypercalcemia), which can lead to death.
When I started thinking of how we—and my freezer—depend on sunshine to function properly, I also considered how there’s another sunshine we need, only the spelling is different. I’m talking about Son-shine–you know, as the Son of God. His best friend, John, quoted Jesus as saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” and “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Is there a better way to be hope-full than to understand the benefits of soaking up Jesus’ kind of son-shine? Not according to Peter who reminded Jesus’ followers, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)
One of my favorite things to do is to curl up with my Bible where I read about how much I am loved and how there is One who constantly pulls me towards the light and teaches me ways to dispel the dark. The story hasn’t changed since the beginning of creation, yet it’s up to us to determine just how much Son-shine we want.
And here’s the cool part! Overdosing on Jesus is impossible. With him, we never are beyond hope. Maybe it’s time to increase the time we spend in the Son.