Trim Your Wick

I always have a candle burning in my kitchen.
I am drawn to kitchen-y smells.
Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pumpkin, and banana nut bread are some of my favorites.
My ultimate favorite scent is one called: Country Store, which seems to be a mix of those smells.

There is a store in Lancaster County where I buy my candles.
Even though I know that I can get the candles online, I like to actually go to the store.
I like to see if there is a new scent.
However nothing can compare to Country Store.

It is now my daughter-in-love’s favorite scent as well.
Their apartment and our home smell the same.
There is comfort in a favorite scent.
There is familiarity.

There is always a disclaimer on the bottom of the candle.
Directions about never leaving a burning candle unattended.
Directions about keeping the candle away from any flammable material.
Directions about not letting any foreign material such as matchsticks into the wax pool.

There is one direction that is often overlooked.
This one direction is imperative to the successful burning of a candle.
Some people think that it is purely aesthetic.
However, there is a safety issue involved if the direction is not followed.

Do not let your flame exceed 3/4″ (if so, extinguish flame and trim your wick.)

A young married couple visited our house quite often.
The young woman is a friend of one of my daughters.
I thoroughly enjoyed their visits.
The young woman loved to sit at my kitchen island and always commented about my candle.

She liked burning a candle in their apartment.
She wanted everything to look warm and inviting.
A candle is one way to be sure of that.
The ambiance of a home produces that inviting feeling and that includes the way it smells.

On a summer day, when my daughter had a picnic here, this couple came over.
The young woman wanted to tell me her candle story.
I had this wonderful blueberry candle, which I was burning each night.
I loved the way the apartment smelled.

One night last week the candle exploded.
Blueberry candle wax was all over my tan sofa.
I felt so bad for her as she told me about how she had to let the wax cool.
Then she could gently peel the wax off with a dull knife.

I don’t know how it happened, she said.
Do you trim the wick? I asked her.
No, I never do that, she said.
That could be why the candle exploded, I told her.

With the wick off-center, the candle will burn unevenly and likely form soot on the side of the glass where the flame is too close. This is unsightly and you won’t get all the hours out of your candle.  It may stop burning at all as it drowns itself from too much wax melting down on top of it…What happens if this is left unadjusted, however, is quite bad. The glass can get too hot and can crack. The usual response is “My candle exploded!!”. Wax can spill out everywhere causing a mess and an uncontrolled fire can create a significant hazard. (scentsnob.com/candle safety)

I bought this sweet young woman a wick trimmer.
I told her that trimming the wick is the first thing I do before lighting my candle.
She was grateful for the wick trimmer.
She was grateful that she only had to peel wax off her sofa.

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.
(Mark 6:30,31)

We, like the apostles, burn the candle at both ends.
We keep going; running here and there, we wear ourselves out.
If left unchecked, we will explode just like the young woman’s candle.
If we do not adjust the busyness of our schedules, we will be peeling life’s wax off the ceiling.

Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.
In essence, TRIM YOUR WICK!
We need to take the time to trim away the excesses of our lives.
When we trim our wick, our light burns brighter and more effectively.

Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote about this in her poem, First Fig.

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!

Burning our candles at both ends may look good on the outside.
For a time, it will give a lovely light.
However, the flame will not last.
The flame will eventually burn out or explode.

Trim your wick.
Trim away the excesses of your life.
Jesus is calling you to a quiet place.
It is there that you will find rest for your soul.