Friday, May 10, 2013

Candles

   Thousands upon thousands of candles cover the ground and stretch out into the horizon. There is no uniform shape or size. Some are lit while others have never had a flame touch their wicks. All the candles have wax that has dripped down the side and are bent, crooked and/or cracked. Some are in worse shape than others. The candles move around sometimes gathering in groups and at other times trying avoiding contact. As time passes, the candles shrink in size. The rate at which the candles grow smaller has nothing to do with the size of the flame (if it even has one) or the size of the candle. Eventually the candles disappear as new ones replace them.
   Above all the candles a special flame hovers. This flame somehow feeds the flames of the candles without becoming part of the candles' flames. Its size and brightness neither grows nor diminishes. Whenever an unlit candle becomes lit, red liquid falls from the flame making the candle pure white. It is not until the special flame touches the candle that the candle truly begins to burn.
   The unlit candles have many different colors and wick sizes. Normally these candles wander about aimlessly, either in a group or by themselves. If they purposefully go somewhere, it is typically so they can try to smother the flames of the lit candles. Some of the wicks are trimmed and ready to be lit. Others are so long that if they were lit, the flame would die before it ever touched the candle. When the candles with trimmed wicks gather with candles that have long wicks, the trimmed wicks often grow longer. When a lit candle approaches, the long wicks normally become shorter and the trimmed wicks often become lit.
   All the lit candles are white, however the size of the flame varies. On some candles the flame is so large that it threatens to engulf the entire candle but others have only smoldering wicks. Whenever a group of white candles begins to hang out together, most if not all of the flames either grow larger or diminish until they are left with only smoldering wicks. The white candles try to light the unlit candles. Often many unlit candles will light up at once when a candle that is almost engulfed in its flame comes. The candles with smoldering wicks are almost never successful at lighting an unlit candle. If a white candle stays with a group of the unlit candles for a long time without also spending time with a group of lighted candles, its flame begins to sputter and die out.
   How is your flame today? Is it so large that those around you can't possible miss it, a smoldering wick that is easy to miss seeing, or somewhere in between? My prayer is that your flame will grow until it reaches the point that you can no longer control or contain it.

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