Lighting a candle to remember is an ancient practice. Across culture and religion, we light a candle to gather around a small light that anchors our minds together. For the sacred spot at home, if I were to distill it to it’s most elemental parts, I’d say, underlay, candle, image. I’ve talked a bit in previous posts about the underlay and the image, so here I am pondering the candle.
In Godly Play, on the focal table, one of the components is the Christ Candle. Lighting this candle reminds us of a few important stories, the story of baptism, wherein all the candles are lit from the flame of the Christ Candle, and the Advent and Christmas stories, wherein the concept of the light changing comes into play. The idea of this is, we light the candles of Advent and Christmas, to enjoy the lights of the holy family, the shepherds, the wise men and the light of the Christ child, but when we use the snuffer when the story is done, we don’t extinguish the flame, we change the light. You can see the flame is gone, but the smoke spreads out thinner and thinner, filling the whole space with the light. The light is there, even when the flame is gone. Yet, we come to the Christ Candle every week to light it and enjoy the flame, to remind us of the light that is with us and within us.
We light candles at the dinner table to commemorate the ritual of eating and sharing the table together. We light candles on the birthday cake to celebrate years of life. Sometimes, we light candles at church, to remember someone who is suffering, or celebrating, someone who is in this world, or the next. In a sacred spot at home, lighting the candle can be an intentional act-spotlighting your little spot for God, bringing attention to it for a space of a few hours in the evening, or during a celebration or prayer time. Maybe on days when you honor someone who has died, the little candle in your sacred spot stays burning all day and all evening. Reminding you that their light is always with you.
The act of lighting a candle brings attention and devotion to the space, and as you notice the smell of the sulfur when you light the match, the flickering flame, and step back to see the glow illuminate the spot, you bring your awareness to the sights, smells and sounds of your way of making a space for God at home.
A candle lit for The Great Mother, a painting by Janet McKenzie