flame...

Tuesday night I was at my co-ed book discussion group on Captivating. We were discussing how the authors talk about how real beauty is illumined from within. It is not something you strive towards. It happens when you let the love of God enter in and take hold of every aspect of your life. I got this image in my head of a stained-glass hurricane lamp that had a candle inside. You know how before the candle is lit the colors on the outside of it look muted and flat? But then once that flame starts burning the colors become alive and brilliant? That's the image I got and it inspired the poem below.



flame...


All the fragile pieces of me,
The little bits of colored glass
With lines of thick black lead between,
Seem dim and obscure like tarnished brass.
Dark and lifeless, dull and listless
With no purpose but to take up space
In a dimly lit world of emptiness.
I look around and see other faces
At how they almost shine but not quite
With their 50 watts of imitation light inside
The hard, man-made counterfeit light.
Still I am jealous and divulge my pride -
What I wouldn't give to have the chance
To have my delicate pieces lit up like that
To cause someone to give me a second glance,
To not hear someone say my colors are muted and flat.
Someone came and gave me that chance
But the bulb burned out after the dance
And I was left vacant and discarded
To have had a taste and have it removed
Left nothing in me but more guarded
And the idea that my worth had been disproved.
I resolved to live out my days
In a dull colorless haze
Refusing to let anyone see
The real shades of me.
So I wouldn't get wounded
And I would always be grounded.

But You? You had different intentions
When You planned my design
You knew I would need your intervention
For my beauty to shine.
To truly reveal the glow
That I was made to bestow
To transform the dark muted tones
Into shades vivid and alive
Revealing a glory formerly unknown.
You came in and lit the spark
Set the flame burning
Brought me out of the dark;
Toward You I am turning.
You breathed in me your Living Fire -
Divine. Pure. Holy. Refiner's Fire.
Lighting me from the inside out
With your profound ardor
Illuminating me to my true splendor.
Flames of grace set my heart dancing;
Your Eternal Light forever enhancing
The glory of my soul,
The treasure I was meant to be.
I am complete, I am whole.
It took your light inside for me to see
There was something more in store for me.
A pearl from an oyster
A diamond out of coal
Beauty from the ashes
Light shattering the dark.