Recently a friend of mine contributed a Prayer Note to the series offered by Oasis Ministries, and it brought back vivid memories.
She writes of the experience of candle-dipping as a child, something my daughter also did at school. Have you ever made a candle this way? It’s a slow process, as the candle wick is dipped in hot wax, which then has to harden before being dipped again. Slowly and gradually a tapered candle takes shape.
In schools this is often done as a whole-class activity. The class slowly circle the room, dipping their candle in turn, gradually building up the layers. It can be an opportunity for a quiet, meditative time, sometimes with music playing, as you circle the room with others.
It reminds me of walking or tracing a labyrinth; a slow, meditative journey in a pre-set pattern allowing the rhythm of the movement to calm the mind and open it to what might be waiting to be heard and recognised.
There are many mentions in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures of the need to take time to reflect and meditate. Psalm 119, the longest psalm, regularly reminds us to do this:
I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.
- Psalm 119: 15
Here is what my friend, the poet Rayelenn Casey, writes:
•Walk in solitude, but among friends.
•Trust your teachers and mentors.
•Find the quiet in yourself.
•Be willing to move very slowly.
•Find the rhythm of the turning circle.
•Be patient while others have their turns.
•Love the waiting.
•Be willing to grow one small bit at a time.
•It might seem nothing much is happening, but you are taking shape. Much of substance is being added to you as you journey round. You’ll see. In time.
•Keep faithful to the journey.
•Inner growth takes a long, long time. A lifetime.
•Take time to notice and rejoice in your own growth and beauty.
•Take time to notice and rejoice in the growth and beauty of others.
•Light your candle; let it shine in your dark places.
•You are the light. Be light. Be the light.