Been a hot and humid day, summertime in the South. Don’t know about y’all but I’d like for some rain to head our way. I know I’m always complaining about technology but I do enjoy using the weather app AccuWeather and it says three percent chance for tomorrow so guess we can forget about rain showers. I remember once it said one percent and it rained all day so who knows. Maybe Mother Nature knows.

I ate a pack of cheese crackers for breakfast on the porch this morning enjoying the birds. Lots of finches today. Mostly females. Their mates have the raspberry colored chests and the females are so plain in comparison but if you take the time to study the females you’ll see their light brown and grey feathers meld together beautifully. I use to think females birds were plain and ordinary but they are magnificent in their subtle colorings.

Watched my little wren friend today checking on a hole in a large stump in my side yard. They are so curious. He was contemplating going in but was just peaking in when I watched him. They’d make good private investigators. They investigate everything.

I had a tomato sandwich and cucumber from my little garden for lunch. The cucumbers play hide and seek under their big leaves. I struggle to find one and the next day I’ll see a big one that should have been picked earlier. The fruits from the garden are really amazing. I love watching them grow.

The sky was so blue and cloudless at lunchtime. I counted my blessings to enjoy another summer day. One long skinny cloud floated by. Looked like a needlefish. Funny thing, was it was swimming backwards.

I’ve been reading about Eleanor Roosevelt today. She has some powerful quotes attributed to her. When she was posthumously awarded the UN Human Rights Prize in 1968 Adlai Stevenson said, “She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow had warmed the world.” What a wonderful compliment.

Our lives are like a candle. When we are born our candle is lit and it slowly burns throughout out lives. The candle symbolizes the light in our lives. Most of us curse the dark as we scramble around trying to find a candle. We have dark times in our lives. I know I have. I’ve struggled to find a candle and when I finally have a candle lots of times I can’t find a match. I struggle in the dark till my faith lights the candle to show me the way.

We need to have courage in the dark and we need to brighten the world with our light. A candle that’s melted down has been used with a purpose. A candle not used is wasted potential for warmth and light. St. Francis said, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light from a single candle.” You think about that. That’s powerful! A candle only burns once and we only have one life to live. We can show our light by living each day with a purpose, showing kindness and compassion.

Our light burns brightest when we share our faith with others around us. Lighting other candles doesn’t dim our flame. We all have the capacity to give light to others, to give hope on dark days.

As the children’s song says, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let is shine.” Let’s all let our light shine with kindness and love for each other.

“Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone’s life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance,” — Roy T. Bennett