The Lord blessed us with another beautiful day. Sapphire blue sky with a cool March wind. No wispy clouds to mar the skyline. God’s candle was warming the day with its golden rays. Sat down on the porch swing several times just long enough for Penelope to do her sniffing around the porch and yard, just long enough to drop a large cup of coffee on the porch tile, making a mess that required the hose pipe to wash it off. Old Man winter is practicing his breathing so he can bang wind chime symphonies during Sunday night’s storm. Was just too cool to enjoy pondering in the swing. I was a lady den ponderer today watching Timmy and Lassie and their adventures. Timmy’s daddy had a great quote today. “We have to accept both the good and the bad. It’s part of growing up.” That’s still hard even for us grown up old folks. Guess I’m getting old if an episode of Lassie makes me cry.

When I went out near dark to watch the sun setting, the soft dusk of the day’s quietening was so pretty. The trees’ limbs and branches were jet black against the pale yellow almost white skyline. I watched Mother Nature watercolor the horizon, stroking her brushes in colors of delicious sherbet flavors of lemon, pineapple, coconut, raspberry, and orange. The lingering twilight gave the day’s ending a magical romance as the sherbet skyline melted and paled into the shadows of night. I love watching the darkness creep up my neighborhood. I love saying goodbye to the glorious flock of cardinals that visit every day at dusk. I love going happily into my home for the night being thankful for experiencing a beautiful day. I’m blessed and I know it.

Today’s quote on this Friday the 13th reads, “Thousands of candles, can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the single candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared,” Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai. I love this quote and the imagery of a thousand candles twinkling in a beautiful stone cathedral in Scotland enters my mind. The happiness and love we have in our lives are inexhaustible and proliferate when we share them with others. Try lighting a candle in someone’s day, bringing God’s light and hope into their darkness. We need to encourage others that God’s grace will overcome despair and darkness. Desiderius Erasmus writes, “Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.” In the scriptures John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

It’s so easy to light a candle in someone’s cloudy day, a hug, a smile, a phone call, a kind word of affirmation. Psalm 18:28 reads, “For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” God’s candle lights the human spirit and through our faith we serve as a lamp of the Lord, illuminating the darkness, bringing guidance and hope through our witness of God’s salvation. Matthew 5:16 reads, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” God doesn’t want us to hide our light of faith. He wants our light to be seen by others.

“Healing light shines upon your soul even when the clouds roll in and the sky goes gray.” —Jason Micheal Ratliff