In the late 90's, when we were planning our
first building, we decided against pews, pulpits, and most of the things that
mark usual places of worship. We were used to somewhat casual settings, having
worshipped in a home, a daycare center, a fire station, a bar, and an elementary
school. It's not that we didn't recognize the value of sacred spaces. We just
had some different ideas about how sacred spaces might look.
Yes, a bar. It was the
Duckblind Lounge, and I'll warrant we were the only Baptist church meeting
in a bar at that time.
In the end we opted for a large room with
moveable chairs and a fireplace at one end. We had in mind a kind of "retreat
center" look and feel.
Click for a larger view
We did have a couple of actual fires in the
fireplace during worship in the early days. The unwritten but understood rule
was: "If you want a fire, bring wood and build one. But you have to clean up the
fireplace afterwards."
That second part of the equation slowed down
the fires quite a bit.
I don't remember when I put the candles in the
fireplace, but it must have been sometime in 2001. I brought a candle rack and laid
it on top of the heavy, iron bars that held the firewood. Since then we've had a
fireplace full of candles. For years we bought matching sets of candles, and I
must say that they looked very nice.
But recently I noticed that my candle cabinet
was full of odds and ends. There were candle stubs from this season or that,
unused candles, candles from weddings and parties, and some candles I'd never
seen before. I don't even know how they got there. So I loaded up the fireplace
with a variety of candles from our past. Different colors, different shapes,
some kind of new and others almost used up.
I thought it looked rather nice, myself. It
kind of reminded me of looking out into the congregation on a Sunday morning.
I few weeks ago I invited the children of our
church to bring a candle from home and put it into the fireplace. "You could
have your own candle," I said. So candles started appearing. The first was
Madeline's candle. Madeline, who just turned four, has rather captured my heart
these days. But then, I was a little vulnerable, having realized that there are
no more little girls in my own home. Sloan brought the next candle, then Anna
brought one.
Yes, this
is the same Anna from my CC essay, "The
Gospel According to Anna." You can
view the actual manuscript of Anna's gospel here. Don't miss the footnotes.
Next appeared a candle that had been owned by
Barbara, who died a couple of years ago. Then some candles from a
wedding showed up. I added a pink candle stub from Advent 1997 that I
had been saving in my office. With all of this new activity, I thought I'd
better keep a photographic log.
Click for a larger view
Honestly, I had no theological reasons for
putting candles in our fireplace. Like much that I do, I was just following a
whim. BUT, as I am watching the fireplace change, it does occur to me that the
candles in our fireplace make up a splendid symbol of our community. They come
in all shapes and sizes. Some burn brightly, while others slowly flicker and die
out. Each one appears in its own time and for its own reasons, and all of them
contribute to the whole.
The body of Christ.
rlp
