Lighting a Lamp

This is the season of many lights. Christmas lights are going up and there are more candles than the rest of the year holds. Advent candles and Hanukkah candles are being lit all the time in many different places. This is the season that my pyromaniac housemate enjoys most of all.

I was at a memorial service last night. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting it to be. The end of the service was beautiful though. Everyone has a candle lit. Despite the fact that the room was dark, it wasn't. It was full of light and hope that came from each flame. It was an incredible thing. There was love for those who had been lost and love for those who are left behind.

A friend recently sent me a quote that I really enjoyed. "Perhaps it will seem to you that the sunshine is brighter and that everything has a new charm. At least, I believe this is always the result of a deep love, and it is a beautiful thing. And I believe people who think love prevents one from thinking clearly are wrong; for then one thinks very clearly and is more active than before. And love is something eternal - the aspect may change, but not the essence. There is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning. The lamp was there and it was a good lamp, but now it is shedding light too, and that is its real function. And love makes one calmer about many things, and in that way, one is more fit for one's work." Vincent Van Gogh

A deep love is something incredible. I have been accused in the past of being all lit up because of being in love. And I'm sure that it is true. When you are in love, the sun does seem to shine brighter and the world has a sparkle it used to lack. Things are clearer, although you think that they wouldn't be. Having a great love in your life isn't distracting, it's clarifying. You do more, although you may think it is less. The greatest thing about love is that is never really changes. The object of love may change, but the essence never does.

There is a well known parable in the New Testament about lighting a lamp. No one lights a lamp and then hides it. I take a similar stance on loving. There is no point in loving if you are unwilling to show love and affection. Perhaps that is why I have been accused so often of glowing because I'm in love. I feel more whole and complete, as though I am doing what I am supposed to be when I am all in love and "lit up."

Vincent Van Gogh may have been a crazy guy who cut off his ear, but he was right about this. Candles and lamps remain candles and lamps even when they are not lit. People are still themselves when they are not in love, but they don't glow or exude happiness in the same way that people who love completely do. It is easy to always be happy when all you see in the world is love. There is darkness, there is no denying that, but there is also great light and love in the world. We can ignore it, and be overwhelmed by the darkness, or we can choose the light. We can choose to be the light and live more completely than we were ever able to before.