The Candle

She woke up one night, her eyes were in tears,
She felt cold inside, tormented by fears.
The thick woolen blanket would not keep her warm.
The wind seemed to carry the seeds of a storm.

She was on her own, with no one around,
She trembled and jumped at each little sound.
Old nightmares rose from the mist of the past
To fill her with terror: “This night is your last”.

She tried to be brave, but a voice in her head
Was screaming in anguish: “Give up! You are dead!”
A sense of negation was sinking in all
The forces of darkness were huge; she was small.

“My Lord, I am frightened, will this be my end?
I’ve no one to save me, no lover, no friend.
My dreams come to haunt me. It’s all déjà vu.
I’m so lost and lonely. My Lord, where are You?”

She looked at the candle, its flame seemed to say:
“My child, don’t be frightened, I won’t go away.
No demon can touch you, to Me you belong.
No evil can harm you, with Me you are strong.

You see? It’s so simple. Just look at the flame.
The shadows are shifting but I am the same.
Wherever my light is, the darkness is gone.
For never can darkness and light be as one.

When one is within you, the other’s no more
One walks in, the other walks out of the door.
When dawn fills you deeply, the night falls apart,
For never can both be contained in a heart.

Just keep the door open and let my light in
No demon can face Me, out there or within.
Your candle is burning, there’s nothing to fear,
Just call Me, beloved, and I will be here.

The darkness seems endless, but it is not so.
Its trick is to make you believe it won’t go.
But once you have called Me, its power is lost,
When summer is blooming, there’s no room for frost.

When faith says its prayer, no demon can stay,
For night cannot cover the light of the day."

Prayer for Inner Change

Father of all, true living God, ever-loving, ever-forgiving, open the door of our hearts, so that they can be filled with your love up to the brim. Your love is light and wherever light is, darkness cannot be. Let your love flood every corner of our being and cast the shadows away. Clean us from inside and let the outside be a reflection of our inner transformation. Let our light shine like a candle in the night, silently testifying to the new beings we have become.

Let us be born again, not to death, bondage and decay, but to freedom, truth and everlasting life. Let our hearts be pure like those of little children, overflowing with trust and surrender. Dear Lord, teach us to be guided by your will every moment of every day and night, let your Holy Spirit work in us and through us to achieve miracles for your glory and the benefit of our neighbours.

Change us in wonderful ways, in ways full of power, beyond our imagination, beyond our wildest dreams. For you are so much greater than our hearts, so much wiser than our minds. Take us to new realms of peace and joy, to new dimensions of love and faith, to a place where our trust in you is so strong that we can move mountains.

Take us further than we ever thought we could reach and teach us never to be afraid, for you are always with us, in life as well as in death, here and beyond, forever and ever.

AMEN