Sometimes, safety trumps symbolism.

“HEY!! WE CAN’T HAVE THAT THING ON THE WINDOWSILL!! YOU CAN’T HAVE A PAPER LANTERN WITH A CANDLE IN IT SITTING ON A WOODEN SILL IN A WOODEN HOUSE!! IT’S NOT SAFE!! WE ARE NOT SAFE!!”

Maybe that’s what I was thinking…for a moment….until I took a closer look and realized that the candle inside the paper lantern was just a flickering LED.

It was just an LED.

An LED that flickered…calling the travelers home.

“Calling the travelers home”…..

I have a good buddy who has a line in one of his songs about someone throwing a blanket over him…..comfort and peace, rest for the weary.

Just a candle in the window….silently saying, “come in….we’re still here… and waiting”.

Ahhhhhh….it’s so early…and I’m still here…thinking about candles and belonging…and comfort at the end of a hard.. or long… journey.

Now, of course, I’m always thinking about a lot of things.

I’m wondering if the new coffee beans are going to be OK….since I just drank up the last of the coffee that we know is good.

I’m wondering how I’m going to get all my packages that I have to deliver today in the Jeep.

I wonder if most of my decisions are going to be good ones.

(Batting .500 in baseball is phenomenal, but if only 1/2 of the decisions I make are good ones, I’m going to have some ‘splaining to do.)

Man…a life is eaten up with early mornings full of pondering.

BAM…..it’s over…and you’re wondering, “WHAT HAPPENED?!!”

My life isn’t over yet, though….I need to quit thinking about that stuff.

There is “good pondering”…and there’s “bad pondering”….I need to watch what side of the fence I’m falling off of.

This candle thing…sitting on the window….what was that story in the Bible about keeping your lamp full of oil….ready….waiting?

Now, supply and demand might indicate that in the time of dire need, the price of oil is going to get jacked up to an astronomical degree.

You may not even find a store open when the oil is running low.

Your LED might flicker its last just a little too soon.

That airtight bushel basket might not have enough chinks in its metaphorical construction to let even a glimmer of what shines within to show itself to the world.

It might not be safe to show that light to the world.

A candle burning in a fragile lantern might be a hazard.

But, really, what in a life isn’t a hazard? Taking a breath is a risk and a gift. You never know what’s going to happen.

Stepping outside your door is one of the most optimistic things you can do.

What’s your option, anyway? It would be pretty darn boring to live in fear of the negative outcome all the days of your life. You can’t hole up and hunker down and expect anything good to come of it.

We live….we don’t hide.

Anyway…what did Mark Twain say about knowing a great many troubles….and some of them actually happening?

IT’S ALL GOOD!!  (That’s a goofy saying…”it’s all good”…but it’s fun to yell it at inappropriate times. People appreciate me yelling that when things are really hitting the fan….)

We are just a bunch of little flames…even though some would bluster to bonfire status….tender and afraid…holding on in the breeze.

Our light shines, though….doesn’t it?

 

“there’s a light beyond these woods (mary margaret)” Nanci Griffith