It started in November. A friend of mine and I were texting, sharing projects we were working on made out of yarn – she was crocheting and I was knitting. I then received a picture of a tiny crocheted dumpster fire. It was amazing. And when I told this friend I loved it, I soon after received one as a gift.

Note the sheer joy!

But to borrow Martin Luther’s words from the Small Catechism, “what does this mean?”

A “dumpster fire” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence.” It’s the description of something so horribly done that it provokes the image of a metal dumpster blazing away with a gigantic fire that shows no signs of stopping. Just as fire grows and consumes ravenously, terrible situations can get out of hand, spread, and destroy all in their path. It’s no good, and yet, memes of a chipper little dumpster fire have taken off, rooted in sarcasm and a heavy dose of irony.

In other words, it speaks to that snarky part of my soul!

So after receiving this crocheted dumpster fire and displaying it prominently in my craft/prayer room where it would make me smile, in January, I was perusing Etsy and found this little gem from Thunder & Grace:

Now that made me giggle out loud.

We talk about letting our lights shine in reference to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5:13-16:

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

It’s a passage about how we enrich the world around us by sharing not only love, compassion, kindness, and service, but by being people whose character is shaped by being made in the image of God, redeemed through Christ’s grace, and empowered and energized by the Holy Spirit.

So a dumpster fire, the symbol of an absolute disaster, embracing its inner light and shining it forth in all of it’s glory is…well, the height of turning this phrase on its head.

Yet, why shouldn’t a dumpster fire embrace who it is and authentically be it’s true self?

To push it further, why shouldn’t we embrace ourselves authentically and holistically with both our strengths and weaknesses, gifts and growing edges? We may shy away from or try to hide the portions of ourselves we see as problematic or downright disastrous, but in embracing those weaknesses, we can learn, grow, and come to understand ourselves more fully.

Maybe it’s part of how we let our lights fully and truly shine – as dynamic and complex people, completely loved by God for who we are with all our beauty and all our imperfect messiness, and sent out to share that liberating grace, hope, and joy with the world. Perhaps when we’re only trying to show off our strengths or those things were proud of, we’re not really allowing the fullness of our authentic selves to be seen. When we’re able to share our weaknesses, questions, doubts, imperfections, mistakes, and struggles with others in great humility and vulnerability, we show that it’s ok to not have everything figure out. In sharing, we give others permission to fully be their authentic selves, and we ultimately allow space to help and encourage one another as we all learn, grow, and change.

Continuing this dumpster fire theme, I saw this from Ink Road Stamps and posted by Unvirtuous Abbey:

Again, this initially made me laugh – but then it made me think.

If we are wholeheartedly embracing even the things we struggle with and feel are our own personal dumpster fires, how does this enable us to shine brightly as our full selves in the face of other calamities in the larger world? How does embracing even the things with which we struggle empower us to face the difficulties and struggles in the world with hope, resilience, and perseverance? How does this acceptance foster a sense of derring-do – of bold courage when up against the seemingly insurmountable? Doing so, our lights are not just tiny flickers, but brightly burning fires – beacons blazing for others and brightening up the difficult situations unfolding around us.

The dumpster fire memes bring chuckles and smiles. But maybe they also invite us to accept the tricky bits of our own lives as training grounds for learning and for discovering and honing the tools we need to navigate a world that often feels like it’s ablaze with trouble.

At the very least, may we allow these memes to be encouragement to keep on keeping on, and to shine brightly with radiant love, compassion, hope, joy and courage, even when the problems of this world feel like an unquenchable fire.

And in the process, may these cheery little dumpster fires remind us to keep a sense of humor as we navigate the perils of everyday life.

© Annabelle P. Markey