Trim the Wick

At what point candles moved from the center stage as light source to the center stage of affective aesthetics, I don't know but either way I am all about having candles in my world. You will find them in my office (both at home and on the church campus) in the bath, in the kitchen, in the bedroom. I buy them for my wife, I buy them for friends, I have several "stored" around just because you can't beat a good candle! There is just something "cool" and yet "warm" at the same time about them. Candles make my world just a little bit nicer (Currently burning: Candy Corn combined with French Vanilla. Yeah... my office smells like a bakery and I'm getting hungry!).

Like the old song lyric "I was country, when country wasn't cool" I feel like I was "into candles before candles were cool." I have burned candles since I was a kid. When I was young, I'd make my own candles with the guys across the street. We bought white wax and then melted Crayola Crayons to make the colors. We made "sand candles" and all kinds of cool things and thankfully, we never burned a house down. When I was a teen, I would light my candles and play guitar in the dim candle light for hours (yes... I had some "hippie" in me and I guess I still do).

Now, candles are all the rage! I have five acquaintances (no exaggeration here) who are in the candle business in some form or fashion. Two of those people run full-blown (pardon the pun) candle stores (full-time) and two others run their business out of the home on a part-time basis. That will explain just how popular candles have become in the public marketplace in the last few years. It is amazing, really. I have even thought about getting into the game myself if for no other reason than to simply save money on my own candles!

It is likely that I have a candle burning in my life (if I am stationary long enough) on any given day. There is just something peaceful about them. The warmth, the aroma, the light... it is a fairly compelling experience, really. Calming, serene, placid... somehow they tend to help keep me "grounded" in the midst of an otherwise chaotic existence.

The other day I lit a candle in my office and from a relatively small candle came a rather significant flame. Reaching well above the rim of the glass jar, I expected it to "adjust itself" in a matter of a few seconds. But it didn't. The flame just kept raging like some kind of towering inferno! Making a loud "pop" a couple of times gave me enough pause that it might become a hazard (as if a concealed flame is ever NOT a potential hazard -- the outer core (blue color) of a candle flame burns at approximately 2550 degrees Fahrenheit -- that's hot!!! And if you don't think candles are important, even NASA has studied the effects of weightlessness on open candle flames -- insert the collective audio "ooo-ahh" here).

As the flame rose to about 4 inches above the candle surface, I finally blew it out. Looking into the now blackened candle jar, it was then I realized how tall the wick was and how much "fuel" had gathered into to top of it (someone should write a book on "candleology" for there is much to know about candle maintenance and how to get the most life and efficiency out of your candles). The wick had grown too tall and wasn't managing the fuel available to it in the most efficient manner. So, it was time to "trim the wick."

True to my candle-lover status, I used one of my "uber-cool" 90 degree angled wick trimmers and within a few seconds had the wick and subsequent flame back under control and burning at optimum efficiency (trim to 1/4 inch with about a 45 degree angle in the wick -- it works well) and it got me thinking about how many times God has to effectively "trim my wick."

With so much busyness in my life, sometimes I feel like I'm running "Mach II with my hair on fire." Like a candle out of control, I'm giving off a big flame and putting out a mess of heat, but it may not be terribly efficient and might be smoking up the sides of the glass! Under those conditions, I recognize that I tend to "flame out" in short order and wonder why I don't feel fulfilled in my life.

My experience is that God is a gracious and merciful "wick trimmer." If you submit to His care, He will trim you into an efficient flame that will work in a way that may be more efficient than you could imagine and may just give off some pleasing aromas as well.

Is it time to ask God to "trim your wick" before you flame out?

"You are the light of the world... let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matt. 5:13, 16


"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved
and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other,
the fragrance of life."
2 Cor. 2:15-16