I went into a church today,
and lit a candle.
It was not an act of faith,
a special prayer to a higher being.
It was a simple gesture,
a wish on my part,
to put back the light in this village,
that is missing since you left.
As I entered the church,
the sense of peace and quiet hit me.
Because I have no faith,
I often feel uncomfortable in a church,
as if my being there is disrespectful,
to those who are there to pray.
I usually feel that I do not belong,
and that I am trespassing,
in someone elses sacred place.
But today as I entered the Church,
I felt at ease.
It is a large church,
and as you close the double doors behind you,
there is no outside noise to be heard.
There were two statues,
at either side of the church,
under which the candles stood.
If I was religious,
I would have chosen which candle to light,
according to which figure I would be praying to.
However not being religious,
mine was a simpler choice,
I wished to light a candle,
amongst the stand with the least candles lit,
so your light would be more significant.
I lit that candle,
and a wealth of emotion hit me.
Maybe it was the quiet?
But as I watched that candle come alight,
I wanted to send you a photo.
I wanted to show you,
that even though you are not here in our village in person,
that you are missed every day.
And this candle light is shining,
to let others know,
that you are missing from our lives,
and our lives are missing you.
So despite my reluctance to enter a church,
I will return,
to once again light a candle for you,
until we can maybe very soon,
find a different way to celebrate our friendship
………..
On a side note.
I never realized I would have to pay for the candle,
so I didn’t.
I am not sure if robbery is even worse,
if done in a church.
I hope not.
I do however promise to return tomorrow,
to cancel my debt.
Hopefully in the meantime I will not be struck down.
If in fact this blog goes quiet in the next few days,
you will know,
robbery in a church is in fact a very big deal!
photo credit: dorena-wm via photopin cc
photo credit: VinothChandar via photopin cc
My thoughts on a page. 
I am pretty sure it is not robbery to light a candle without paying. How can you be robbing when you are bringing light and love? The money is a donation, and can be given if chosen.
Beautiful post.
Thank you. I did feel robbing the candle kind of interfered with the moment!! Someday I will sit my friend down and show her these posts. She will laugh at this one, as she has great faith and is always delighted when she hears I was in the church. 🙂
The great things we do for friends. 🙂
Yes and how important friends are to our lives.
Amen.
😉 Well, Tric, even though you don’t have faith, He has faith in you. You brought light and love and humility and a smile into that church. No payment required. No debt incurred.
Thank you so much. I will still return to pay my due. It is the right thing to do. I admire those of you with faith. I have seen it give great comfort to many.
Thank you so much. I will still return to pay my due. It is the right thing to do. I admire those of you with faith. I have seen it give great comfort to many.
spirituality
~
light
there is comfort
in ritual
Yes and there is something “different” about lighting a candle in a church. The candle seems to speak a message. Thank you.
I loved this one. While I do have faith, one of the reasons I enjoy going to church is the sense of peace I sometimes get.
Thanks a million. It was a lovely moment, shared with my friend even though I was without her.
Beautiful. I believe that your writing is consistently more and more lovely and more eloquent, the longer you write.
Wow Lucia, that is a huge compliment. Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Beautiful as usual! 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
The bit about robbery is hilarious! Contrary to popular opinion (which is almost always wrong), God doesn’t sit around watching…hoping to “catch” us doing something wrong so he can zap us. Your next post proves my point! 😛
\o/
Just as well! 🙂