JUST A CANDLE

by

Wanda Harrell

Copyright 2000

When I was a child, aside from two tall, slender tapers held in antique crystal holders on the dining room table that were never burned, I only recall one other candle in our home.  It was a beautiful Christmas candle my Aunt Georgia made for us one year long ago.  It was large, square and made of a snowy-looking white wax.  On one side of it were imitation holly leaves and some miniature glass ornaments.  I thought it was the most beautiful candle I had ever seen.

Each and every Christmas season, I oohed and aahed when my mother carefully unwrapped it from the protective tissue paper in which it had been stored, placing it out as a decoration, along with some small branches of fresh evergreen trimmed from the bottom of our Christmas tree. 

I did so admire the candle’s beauty, but I longed to behold its orange flame dance in celebration of its purpose in being.  I yearned to see it actually glow in its fullest shimmering existence, exhibiting its maximum potential of beauty, fulfilling its radiant destiny.  However, that was never to happen.  Christmases came and went, and each year the candle was wrapped up, and carefully placed in a box alongside the other decorations.  Each year when Mother unwrapped it, I silently and secretly hoped, but never did a match touch its wick.  Never would anyone see it in all of its radiant glory, wearing a flickering crown of light, the supreme pinnacle of the candle’s potential beauty.

Life went on.  Things changed...I grew from a little girl to a woman, but the candle remained the same, just as pristine as the day my aunt gave it to us, until one Christmas season, my mother decided the candle was obsolete.  It was replaced with a newer, fancier candle in the holiday centerpiece.

We can go through life much like that candle, allowing others to control whether we shine or not, never allowing our flame to gleam and give joy to others, never permitting our inner light to glow, to penetrate what otherwise would be darkness.

It was such a little thing--just a candle--but in its unutilized reason for being, it left a lasting impression upon me.  Although beautiful unlit, it would have been dazzling if allowed to serve its purpose for being, to spread its golden, warming glow about the room on a cold, snowy night long ago.  Its full potential, its complete beauty was never seen, for it has either been discarded, or maybe it is still wrapped in tissue paper in a box somewhere in my mother’s attic, neglected and now yellowed with age.  Or, it may have long ago been tossed like yesterday’s newspaper into the trash.  Whichever, that solitary candle was beautiful in its time, but would have been more beautiful if allowed the opportunity to convey its complete beauty and brilliance.

Experience all of your potential while there is still time.  Allow your God given personal light to shine!