Candles At Christmas Time

The sanctuary was full. People of different religions, beliefs, races, pains, joys, and sorrows. Once a year, they all came together. They over-looked each others faults, their insecurities. They sat together, enjoying their company.

Some came suffering the pain and sorrow of death. Loved ones who had left them, those that meant the whole world to them and so much more. They went to "a better place," a phrase used by those who did not understand but wanted to help. These people always thanked them and moved on.

Some came for hope. They had lost more than they once had. Their will, their drive to press on, had faded away. They wanted something, needed something. Anything to start a new spark in their candles. Anything.

Others came for tradition. Their parents came, as their parents before them, and so on and so forth. Christmas without candles made no sense to them. This was the time of year in which they made quick amends with friends and family to avoid the guilt that usually came with Christmas.

Some, however, came for Christmas. In between all those who came for relief, comfort, tradition, and hope, there were those who came to hear the story again. These people were sometimes poor. so broke they could only eat twice a week in order to make the rent. Sometimes, these people were rich. They had paid off everything they owned and even owned the house the poor could not afford to live in.

Sometimes, these people were modest. They made enough to pay bills and put a few dollars back each week. They only ate out on birthdays and other special occasions. Every penny made was stretched and pushed out as far as it could go.

These people came together once a year. They sat next to each other, singing and worshiping together. They might have bumped into each other in the mall or in a parking lot, but this was the only place where they joined together as one.

There were five candles; four for the weeks of advent and one representing Christ. The minister lit his candle from the Christ Candle. He walked to the first aisle on the far right of the sanctuary, lighting another's candle. The light from the flames began spreading.

One by one, the candles were lit. The single flame moved from person to person, touching each soul it came to. It moved from the hopeless to the hopeful. The broken to the strong. The hurt to the healed. Everyone the fire came to began to feel something, the thing they were missing.

They bowed their heads to pray. All candles were now lit, each one bearing the flame. As silent prayers filled the sanctuary, hearts were touched; lives were changed; hurts forgotten. For one moment, everyone there was whole.