Will Someone Light a Candle for You?
THE BIGGER PICTURE
By Jessica Breazeale | Wesson News
I get that there are plenty of times we don’t feel very saint-like. Maybe even never.
But every one of us is called to be a saint. So what do we do with that? Seems like too tall an order.
When you hear the word “saint,” who do you picture? Maybe somebody in a stained-glass window.
But some of the most extraordinary people I know are common, ordinary people. They aren’t famous. Nobody is putting their name on a building. They just show up, year after year, and in God’s eyes they are of extraordinary worth.
Those everyday folks are also your saints.
Sunday was All Saints Day, when we honor the whole company of those who have lived and died in faith, both the famous and the unknown, and to be encouraged by their example. Hebrews 12:1 calls them a “cloud of witnesses,” and the day reminds us that it belongs to a communion that stretches across time, with believers today running the same race those before them finished.
They’re also candle bearers, symbolizing the light of the world. Who did I remember?
I lit my candle for Wesson’s beloved Brandy Sanders, Jason Counts and Summer Prestridge – locals whom I loved dearly, who went ahead of me, but lit up the world in their own special way. What they offered to the world didn’t come out of a textbook.
Brandy died at 16 from bone marrow cancer. She was faithful and encouraged others until her last breath.
Jason died at 24 from a brain tumor. He loved fiercely, and his life preached until his last breath.
Summer died at 40 from ALS. She was a praying mama, next-door neighbor I held dearly.
Sure, their passing was tough, but their legacy lives on. For me and so many others. And you know what I wonder? Who would they have lit their candles for? We keep “passing the torch” whether we realize it or not.
Somebody lived it in front of them. Somebody taught them Scripture. Somebody showed them how to live & love.
So here’s my question, and I’m asking myself right along with you. When families gather to remember and thank the people who witnessed to them, taught them and guided them, will your name be spoken? Will someone light a candle in remembrance of you one day on All Saints Day?
No title or big moment decides that. It’s decided in the small, ordinary choices we make this week. Somebody is watching how you love. Let’s give them something worth lighting a candle for.
Decell Memorial United Methodist Church is located in Wesson. Sunday school begins
at 9:45 a.m., and Sunday worship begins at 10:45 a.m. Everyone is welcome.
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