Dim the Lights

Actually, the lights went out.  They were passing the sacrament at church and we lost power.  There aren't any windows in the chapel, but there were 3 or 4 emergency lights that came on.  There wasn't a mic or air conditioning.  We started testimony meeting thinking that they would flicker back on soon.  Many people came forward and talked loud as they bore their testimonies.  It was more comfortable for some because people couldn't see very well in the dim light.  The lighting did set a quiet, reverent mood.  In the end, the organist moved to the piano and used her cell phone for light to play the closing hymn.  We all went home early and didn't finish our block of meetings.  It made for a perfect Sabbath.

I've never sat through a church meeting in the dark before, but there have been 2 or 3 times when our microphone picks-up a ham radio operator in the area.  That's pretty funny.  You never know how long the conversation will be, or what might be said over the mic, so they've just turned it off and had speakers speak- up.  We also smelled something burning once and the fire department came.  We didn't evacuate, but there were jokes about God striking someone, or sending a sign.