My imaginary cousin Willie Wally Wishum may not be as simple as he seems.

His co-worker, Joe, announced, "I think I'll take some time off." Joe then climbed into the rafters and hung upside down until the boss asked him what on earth he was doing.

"I'm a light bulb," Joe answered.

"Wow!" his boss replied. "I think you need some time off."

When Joe climbed down and started out, Willie followed. When the boss asked where he was going, Willie answered, "Home. You can't expect me to work in the dark!”

At the risk of being thought crazy, let's pretend we're light bulbs. You decide how bright you want to be. Two hundred-watt? That's fine. If we're pretending, might as well go all out.

As a light bulb, what's your purpose? To provide light, right? Your job is to get rid of darkness — to overcome darkness with light.

You're bright, so you understand that. Me? I'm a little dim, or maybe I'm just not screwed in tightly. When I see darkness I tend to flicker off and go dark. It makes no sense, but I do it.

Let me explain. Jesus says, "You are the light bulb of the world" (Matthew 5: 14 — O.K., I added the "bulb"). The world is a dark place, and my job as a light bulb is to combat that. It should be obvious that I can't get rid of darkness by being dark, but I try anyway.

Suppose a cashier is rude and talks to her friends while ringing up my purchase. That's dark. So, I'm insulted and can't wait to press "No" on the keypad when it asks, "Was your cashier friendly?" I want to press it HARD! I'll show her. I'll get her in trouble. But, revenge is more darkness, not light.

Or, I see someone doing wrong. What's my typical reaction? Complaining! I can talk at length (great length), griping and criticizing about what's wrong with the world. Never mind that God says, "Do everything without complaining and arguing" (Philippians 2: 14). I'm a confused light bulb spewing darkness.

God says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12: 21). We can't defeat darkness with more darkness. We only dispel the darkness with light — with goodness.

The world has no shortage of darkness. May God help me to be a better bulb — to keep my little light shining.

Keith Wishum is minister, Williams Road Church of Christ, Americus.