Another Week, Another Candle

I'll always remember the day the teacher asked us to count to 100, and the one who did it the fastest won the prize.  Immediately, a number in the class started the count, "One, two, three, four..." as fast as they could to 100.  The teacher just stared at them.

Then slowly the realization came that maybe there was another way in which he meant to count to 100.  Some the started by 5's.  Others then by 10's.  And so forth and so on, until someone figured out that maybe we should count in segments of 100, so the count would go, 0, 100.

I've thought of that story often during Advent since the church counts through this season in a special way through the four candles of the Advent wreath.  Instead of counting down the days to Christmas, we mark time by working through the lights of Hope, Peace, Joy, & Love.

I hope and pray that as you are journeying through this season, dealing with all the pressures that are incumbent upon this time of year, that you are marking time a little differently, one candle at a time.

Grace and Peace, Lamar