Lighting Candles

“Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”

Chinese Proverb

The rector walked over to check on the church when it was still dark. A hurricane had taken out the power throughout the city, but the walk was short and he knew it by heart. Opening the front doors, it was darker inside. Stretching out his hands for something to give him bearings, he hit his leg against the back pew. 

“This is ridiculous,” he said to himself. “I should have stayed home like everyone else. It’s just too dark.”

He made his way down the center aisle, using the pews like a cane. When he reached the front, he knew there was a candle off to his right - the baptismal candle - placed up front, beneath the pulpit. His searching hands almost knocked it over. 

When he lit the candle, there was light, and it was good, he thought. Very Good. Now he could see its light reflecting on the edges of the wooden pews nearby, the pulpit, and the piano by the lectern. He could also see other candles which he went and lit, one by one. First, the two on the altar, then the ones in the windowsills. Once he was done, he could see the church again. 

Relieved and comforted, he took a seat in one of the pews and enjoyed his parish as if for the first time. There’s a sermon in what just happened, he thought to himself, but sat and enjoyed the candlelight, for now.