"I will hold you in the Light," the good Quakers say. (I attended Quaker meeting years ago.) I've said it countless times over the years, when friends or their loved ones were going through a challenging time. Now and again, I would light an actual candle to facilitate my remembering, simply because it was always so easy to get caught up in day to day busy-ness and forget...
Several months ago, Jimmy and I decided we wanted to have candles available all day every day, so that when we promised to hold someone in the Light we could follow up immediately with a visual reminder. So I found candles, Jimmy built rustic shelves to hold them, and we started lighting them every day.
Once, just after we'd started this practice, I walked by them in the morning and thought: "Yeah, I don't want to light those today. I'll have to think about people suffering all day long." Um, precisely. I've been especially committed to the practice ever since. (May we never look away. And, may we take joy in spite of it all!)
It's not an inexpensive proposition, to be sure, and there are environmental concerns. After some research, we finally decided to make and pour our own candles with coconut wax. I've only made one batch, and I made some serious rookie mistakes. (Any seasoned candle makers out there? The wicks are wrong and they're burning way too hot/fast...) Anyway, we'll figure it out.
And in the meantime, if you need me to light a candle for you or a loved one, reach out. Our current batch of candles might be imperfect, but they burn hot and strong, all day long. Let us hold you in the Light.
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