Monday Mush--Pilot lights

It isn’t a great picture, but do you know what that is?  Yes, it is a flame…but where and what type?  (And, no, you don’t get a jeans pass for knowing the right answer!)

We are going to have a little Science lesson for our “Monday Mush” this week.   That is a picture of a pilot light under a hot-water heater.  That small flame basically dictates whether your home has hot water for the shower, laundry, sinks, and dishwasher.  Has your pilot light at your house every gone out?  Maybe one night you notice the water isn’t seeming as hot as usual, but you aren’t sure why.  By the morning, it is cold showers for everyone.  It is a rapid decline from hot water to cold water that no one wants to shower in. 

So your hot-water heater works like this.  That pilot light flame stays on 100% of the time.  It doesn’t use much gas to keep it burning, so it just stays “ready.”  When the water in your tank gets colder than your setting allows, that light is used to light a burner underneath the tank.  That burner is basically like a stove burner, and it stays on until the water in the tank is hot again.  It uses more gas obviously because of more intense flames.  But, it shuts off again when the water is hot.   So the burner isn’t on full blast on the time…just when needed.

The thing that we need, enjoy, and notice when missing is the hot water in our house.  But, it isn’t a problem with the water, the fixtures,  the piping, the house, or the water heater itself.  It is that small pilot light that is to blame.  If it is out, the entire system can’t work. 

So now you have 3 choices:

1.       Endure the cold water.  Maybe you don’t know how to light it…maybe you are out of matches…maybe you are just not feeling like crawling up in the attic.  But, you can chose to just get by…

2.       Light the pilot.  You can find some matches, crawl up in the attic, and light it back.  In a few hours all is right with the world again.  Maybe this takes a repairman or a friend/dad/neighbor, but it can still be lit again.

3.       You can move.  This is laughable…absurd even.  I mean it is just a pilot light…but I guess it is an open on the table.

So, you are probably several steps ahead of me by now. 

We all do so many things in a day.  We offer a lot of hope, joy, and knowledge to kids.  We give in lots of directions and it is seen in so many different ways.  So we go full blast when needed, and we rest when we can.  But, there has to be a constant…there has to be a light that is also on and ready.  I truly think we all have our own pilot light.  We have that reason that we do what we do.  We have a small burning light that is always ready to light up “the big burner” when we have something big to do.  We don’t see the light…we see the product from it, but it is there.  And, it is important.

What drives you?  What passion do you have that gets you up in the morning?  I hope this week, you can see the importance of looking at the basics…looking at why you do what you do.

So, what happens when that light goes out?  It can and does.  Well at first maybe things just don’t seem quite right, but if it stays out for long, we can really see and feel it.  Everything is uncomfortable, and things don’t seem to work right. 

So now you have 3 choices:

1.        Endure life without pilot.  Maybe you don’t know how to light it….maybe you are out of ways to light it….maybe you are not feeling like working at it….  But, you can chose to just get by….

2.       Light the pilot.  You can find some motivation that enables you to light it back.  In a short time, things can look very different.  This may take bringing in others to help. 

3.       You can move.  This is laughable…absurd even.  But sometimes we chose to find somewhere else to be to have a new pilot light.

Too often in life we choose #3.  I mean it is just a pilot light, right?  We need to look for ways to find that passion and motivation again.  Losing the pilot light is ok…it doesn’t mean there is something wrong with your house nor would it mean there is something wrong with you. 

I hope this week is a week that we see behind the big picture, and we look at the basics.  We look at that small flame we need burning. 

Thanks for all you do! 

Happy Monday!