Lighters

“At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” – Albert Schweitzer

Indeed, the “light goes out” from time to time no matter how much effort is put into keeping it burning.   There is, it seems, a reluctance to seek help from others.  For some (I’ve read somewhere about people like this) the natural instinct is to try to “rekindle the spark” ourselves, preferably before anyone knows it has even gone out.  But Schweitzer is correct, sometimes, often, the rekindling of the spark must (for whatever reason) come from someone else.  So on this Thanksgiving Day I am thinking, with “deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame” within me.   It doesn’t take much reflection to understand that there are too many to list, many/much to be grateful for.