Thank You God

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings,
Thank you, God, that I can hear.
There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes closed
against the morning light as long as possible,
Thank you, God, that I can see.
Many are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising,
Thank you, God, that I have the strength to rise.
There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic,
when socks are lost, toast is burned and tempers are short,
Thank you, God, for my family.
There are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in
magazines,and the menu is at times unbalanced,
Thank you, God, for the food we have.
There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job often is hard,
Thank you, God, for the opportunity to work.
There are many who have no job.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day
and wish my circumstances were not so modest,
Thank you, God, for all I have.
There are many who have nothing.

The Light Of The World

         Once upon a time a little candle stood in a room filled with other candles, most of them much larger and much more beautiful than she was. Some were ornate and some were rather simple, like herself. Some were white, some were blue, some were pink, some were green. She had no idea why she was there, and the other candles made her feel rather small and insignificant.

When the sun went down and the room began to get dark, she noticed a large man walking toward her with a ball of fire on a stick. She suddenly realized that the man was going to set her on fire. "No, no!!" she cried, "Aaaaagghhh! Don't burn me, please!" But she knew that she could not be heard and prepared for the pain that would surely follow.

To her surprise, the room filled with light. She wondered where it came from since the man had extinguished his fire stick. To her delight, she realized that the light came from herself.

Then the man struck another fire stick and, one by one, lit the other candles in the room. Each one gave out the same light that she did.

During the next few hours, she noticed that, slowly, her wax began to flow. She became aware that she would soon die. With this realization came a sense of why she had been created. "Perhaps my purpose on earth is to give out light until I die," she mused. And that's exactly what she did.

God created you and I to produce light in a dark world. Like that little candle, we all can produce the same amount of light, no matter how small we are or what color we might be. But we can't produce light until we receive it from an outside source. That source is Jesus Christ, the light of the world.