Advent Thoughts (4)

Advent Candles

The Candle’s Example

Once upon a time a little candle stood in a room filled with other candles, most of them much larger and much more beautiful than she was.

Some were ornate and some were rather simple, like herself. Some were white, some were blue, some were pink, some were green.

She had no idea why she was there, and the other candles made her feel rather small and insignificant.

When the sun went down and the room began to get dark, she noticed a large man walking toward her with a ball of fire on a stick.

She suddenly realized that the man was going to set her on fire.

“No, no!” she cried, “Aaaaagghhh! Don’t burn me, please!” But she knew that she could not be heard and prepared for the pain that would surely follow.To her surprise, the room filled with light. She wondered where it came from since the man had extinguished his fire stick. To her delight, she realized that the light came from herself. Then the man struck another fire stick and, one by one, lit the other candles in the room. Each one gave out the same light that she did.

During the next few hours, she noticed that, slowly, her wax began to flow. She became aware that she would soon die.

With this realization came a sense of why she had been created. “Perhaps my purpose on earth is to give out light until I die,” she mused.

And that’s exactly what she did.

Every Christmas light we see during Advent is a reminder that life on earth is the path, it is a task, a mission – it is not the goal.

(slightly adapted from a forgotten source)