Light your candles quietly, such candles as you possess, wherever you are.
—Alfred Delp
I am lighting a lot of candles these days.
We are into the short days of December, and while several of them (so far) have blazed with sunshine and brilliant blue skies, it’s still nearly pitch dark by five o’clock. The twinkling lights of our two Christmas trees (one big, one tiny) are helping to combat the darkness of the long evenings, but even so I find myself reaching for the lighter on a regular basis, hearing the click-click and smiling as the flame springs into life.
Last week, I took a lunchtime walk along the Charles River, which glinted gray and silver under a sky chased with fitful clouds. I stumbled onto a small monastery whose existence I had only learned about recently. I slipped into its tiny chapel, set with jewel-like stained-glass windows, and I lit a candle, one in a row of flickering tealights set in a wrought-iron rack.
I wanted to murmur a prayer for our world, which is hurting so badly in so many ways, and in the end I couldn’t. I had no words. I let that tiny flame, joined with its fellows in that small stone chapel, express my plea: Lord, have mercy.
“I simply get to work on ordinary things,” Sarah wrote in a blog post a few weeks ago. “This is all I know to do when I don’t know what to do.” I think about her words almost daily, as I go about my own ordinary work.
I make the bed every morning with my husband’s grandmother’s quilt. I wash last night’s dishes while the kettle is boiling for my first cup of tea. I sort and wash laundry, lug it downstairs to the basement, haul it back up when it’s dry, fold it and put it away. I make grocery lists, errand lists, to-do lists, and work through them, slowly.
I peel a clementine for an afternoon snack, buy Christmas gifts, answer emails. I drink chai and more chai from Darwin’s, scribbling a few lines in my journal if there’s time. I write – news stories, book reviews, social media posts – and edit and proofread till my eyes hurt.
I come home and I need to plunge my hands into a sink of soapy water, or a batch of scone dough or a tangle of yarn. Or I need to simply sit in front of our Christmas tree with yet another mug of tea or mulled cider. And a candle burning nearby.
There is a lot of joy in this ordinary work. And there is also – at times like this – a feeling of helplessness.
What can I do about the headlines, the scenes of terror and tragedy on every side, the constant shouting in the halls of power that drowns out the tears of those who mourn? Not much, honestly. I can’t change anything for the families who are grieving, for the refugees without a home, even for my friend whose baby has been sick or other friends who are walking through dark times. I’m not a doctor, or a magician. I can’t do much. But I can light a candle on my kitchen table while I scrub pots and pans and make a meal to nourish myself and my love.
We are deep into the season of Advent, and even if you are not Christian, or religious, the world seems to be waiting for something. We are aching for peace, for reconciliation, for an end to the violence and anger that threatens to overwhelm anyone who picks up a newspaper or turns on the TV. We are desperate for solutions to these seemingly intractable problems, and we yell at each other because we don’t know how to fix things, how to move forward in the wake of so much loss.
It seems a small thing, to make a pot of soup, or a cup of tea. To go to a friend’s house on a Tuesday night, share a meal, trade stories and laughter, and read aloud the words of Luke and Isaiah. To spend Saturday morning wrapping potted poinsettias in gold paper, hanging pine garlands around the doorways at church. To text a friend, to share something funny or joyous or exciting, or simply to say, I’m here.
It seems small. But it’s what I can do.
As we turn toward the solstice and the nights grow ever longer, as the headlines continue to shout reminders of how broken and raw the world is, as I deal with continuing struggles and uncertainty of my own, you can find me here. Reading the words of hope and expectation in my Advent book, listening to the carols that thrill me with their longing and joy, sitting in the silence and taking a deep breath.
And then going about my quiet, unglamorous, ordinary work. Lighting the candles I possess, while I wait for the Light of the world to come again.
Beautifully written. Beautiful pictures. You are a writer – I hope to read several of your books some day. Fiction or nonfiction – you have a gift. Blessed advent.
Thank you, Betty. A blessed Advent to you.
Your words are much needed now, at this time, in this moment, in our wounded world. Thank you for your lovely words.
Thank you, Dorothy. So kind.
Such a beautiful piece x x
I love this, Katie. And I love that monastery. xox
I’ve been replaying “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” over and over from Dan & Charity’s LongWhite Christmas CD. When she belts out that line, “God is not dead nor doth He sleep …” I always cry. Then, I give a giant fist bump to the universe. It may not actually change anything yet, but it is such a satisfying moment.
I do love that line.
Beautifully expressed
I wanted to write and say thank you for writing as you do. I often come to your blog when I want to read something that will be positive and comforting. You put so well in words what I am thinking and I appreciate that you share it with the rest of us. It may feel like a small candle you are lighting but it is bigger than you realize.
Thank you so much, Sydney.
Wonderful, Katie.
[…] been resonating with me lately, these things like this and this or this, that talk about choosing to see the light as we move forward to the night that […]
Just wanted to say how much I love this. It’s still true after Christmas.
Thank you.