Candlelight

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends–
It gives a lovely light.

So says Edna St. Vincent Millay in her poem First Fig.
I have always liked this little poem.
As a young girl, it was easy to memorize.
As a woman, I appreciated its meaning…captured so succinctly in four lines.

Our life is like a candle.
Involved in this…involved in that.
Driving here…driving there.

To the onlooker, it is impressive.
To our own hearts…it is too much.
We have overbooked.
We are over-committed.
We are burning the candle at both ends.

Remember when a summer day was lying on the grass…seeing faces in the clouds?
Remember when an evening stroll was the thing to do after dinner?
Remember when families sat down at the dinner table…all together?

The candle is burning frantically at both ends…only to burn itself out!

To the world, the busy schedule looks impressive.
It seems as if we have it all together.
But as the poet says so wisely…it will not last the night.

The candle will burn brightly for a while.
With both ends lit, the flame is brilliant.
Eventually, the flame will extinguish…with nothing to fuel the fire.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

There are different kinds of light.
There is the light we burn to impress others and make ourselves look better than we are.
There is the light we burn…simply to praise God.

Even when we think we are acting with the purest of motives…they are not pure.
There is ego and self-promotion involved.

All of our righteous acts are like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)

Nothing we can ever do is good enough to save us.
No amount of good works will get us into heaven.
We may be altruistic…but we rarely act without a bit of self sprinkled in.

Jesus is THE Lamp.
He is the Light to be put on the stand.
He, the perfect, sinless One.
He is the Light by which everything else is illuminated.

Did you ever notice how people are a bit possessive of their light?
There is a hesitation to compliment, or praise, for fear their own light will grow dimmer.
That is absurd!

His Light, in us, is not self-aggrandizing.
Our light will not grow dim by complimenting another…or encouraging another.
In fact, the opposite happens.

Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Encouragement tends to increase exponentially.
One light encourages another light to shine.
Now, there are two lights burning brightly.
Imagine the possibilities!

Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. (Micah 5:8)

His Light will shine in us and through us, as He sees fit.
We don’t have to impress Him.
We don’t have to multi-task to be accepted.

We should not care about what friends and foes say about our light.
We should only care what HE says about our light.
It is not about us…it is about HIM!
We shine, and do our good deeds, so others will see and praise our Father in heaven.

On our own, our light will not last the night.
So why do we rush around and burn ourselves out?
Who are we trying to impress?

A story is told about a group of travelers who were making their way through a remote island. They had employed a group of locals at the seaport and had informed them that they were pressed for time. The first day they moved quickly through the countryside. The second day they continued their relentless pace. The third morning, when they were frantically preparing for another day of rapid travel, they found the natives squatting under the trees refusing to move. When the bewildered and helpless travelers asked them why they were not ready to start, they simply said, “We shall rest today to let our souls catch up with our bodies.”
(an African proverb)

No burning the candle at both ends!
Time to rest…time to re-group…time to be still.
Time to sit a spell…and shine!