A few winters ago, the power went out at our house. I dug through a closet and found an old lantern from a thrift store. Its glass was chipped and spidered with tiny cracks. I almost tossed it back, thinking, “This won’t do.” But I lit the wick anyway. And something surprised me: the cracks didn’t ruin the light—they multiplied it. The broken lines scattered warm beams across the room like a starburst. That little, imperfect lantern filled the dark with more beauty than a perfect pane ever could.

Scripture says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7, KJV). It goes on: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” In other words, we are the lantern—cracked, yes—but the Light within is Christ. The point was never the perfection of the glass; it’s the radiance of the flame.