Candle in the Wind-ow
On a quiet residential street in a river-town of upstate New York, a stately older home is nestled among other similar-styled dwellings, a nod to a wealthier past when the local paper mills brought its workers prosperity. Those mills have long-since closed and many have moved away for better jobs, but one thing in the borough has not changed since the turn of the 20th century.
Within the front window of that three-story house on Maple Avenue shines one single candle, the only light visible in all the windows that face the main street. No other candles are lit. No other Christmas lights or decorations adorn the front of the house.
One solitary candle shines through every season, all night long.
Many locals know the reason why, and to this day, folks driving past the house at night still point to the candle and share the story of a mother who never stopped searching for her beloved soldier-child.
As the legend goes, the only son of a widowed Mom was called-up to fight in WWI. Where he was originally sent, no one seems to remember. But as he was leaving, his mother placed a wax candle in her front window and promised her boy that she would light it every night as a prayer for his safe return.
She kept that promise, having to replace the candle often as she waited for news of her son’s return.
He never came back.
News eventually reached his mother that her son – still only a teen-ager at 19 – was shot down somewhere over Belgium. They never recovered his body. And so, there was hope. Always hope.
The candle remained lit every evening.
Even long after his mother died, the new owners of this stately house on Maple continued the tradition of keeping the single candle burning in the front window in honor of a mother’s love and a beacon of prayer for a lost child.
One solitary light in the darkness that gently calls out: I haven’t forgotten you. I still watch and wait. You are always in my heart.
This first Sunday of Advent, as we light our first candle in preparation for the celebration of Christmas and the gift of Emmanuel (God-with-us), I can’t help but think of the symbolism of the light shining in the darkness – a light that calls out to all: “Be not afraid. Love searches for you.”
It is, after all, the entire reason why the Father sent His only-begotten Son: to call us back. We have wandered far away, withering like leaves and being carried off by the wind (Isaiah 63). We have sinned and turned away from the Love whose light constantly seeks our broken and sinful hearts, calling out: “Come back to Me.”
This sacred time – this season of Advent – is a true gift for a weary world; a world that has lost its way. A world that has stopped looking for the Savior and turned its back on a Father’s Love. It is season in which Love cries out to every heart: Be watchful. Be alert.
These very words of Jesus were spoken to his disciples as he himself approached Jerusalem, the sight of his Crucifixion. As a shepherd would, he was warning his beloved sheep that they, too, would have to undergo persecution at the hands of those who hate the message that Christ brings to the world – one of mercy, forgiveness and laying-down one’s life for others.
As a loving parent would, he was encouraging weary and frightened hearts that no matter what they might face, he would always be there: a light shining in the darkness; the beacon they needed to follow when they had lost their way.
And what Christ said to the disciples then, he cries out still to this day: Watch for me.
Yes, the world around us may seem to be crumbling – but look for the ways God’s mercy breaks-in to rescue hostages, hold-back weapons of destruction, provide care for the sick, feed the hungry, and rebuild what has been destroyed.
Yes, Satan seems to be having a field-day lately, attacking the Truths of our faith and the bedrocks of healthy societies – but stay alert to the ways God is fortifying us to fight back: through Sacraments and Scripture; through prayer and fasting; through service and sacrifice that never counts the cost. Stay strong!
And while it may seem to many that God remains a hidden God; a silent God unconcerned with our fears and worries and anxieties, He instead is a God who constantly calls to our hearts: Stay awake to the ways I show-up every day:
In the kind words of a stranger, God is made present. In the forgiveness offered by a spouse or best friend, God is there. In the smile of a child; the laughter of a coworker; the countless little hidden acts of daily living that go unseen, God is with us.
Stay awake and alert to those moments – and never stop giving Him your heart, and all that comes with it. Advent gives us that opportunity to do just that.
And here’s the thing: when we do? We become a light in the darkness. Christ’s love shines through us in such a way that others can’t help but be attracted to that light, and hearts are broken-open to a Love beyond all-telling: a love that pours itself out. A love that says “No matter what, I will always be here.”
Isn’t that the call of the Church? Isn’t that the mission of every Christian? Aren’t we called to be the ones to point the way – to say to others the very words that Teresa of Avila would often repeat to her sisters and herself: “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. Though all things pass, God never changes. Patience wins all things. But the person who possesses God lacks nothing.”
This Advent, let us live those very words. Cling to God. Let Him possess your heart again.
Stay awake and alert to the ways in which He breaks into our daily lives, and let Him transform every fear, worry and anxiety that attempts to snuff-out the light.
All it takes is a single candle in the darkness to remind the world that no matter what happens, God has already won – because authentic Christ-like Love wins in the end. He wins!
And if we need a reminder in these troubled times, may the story of a mother’s love for her lost child, and a community’s love for one of their own, keep that flame of watchful love burning within each of us.