Ninth Candle

As you can tell, we are not in synch with our itinerary.  It became evident early on that the shrines I would have liked to visit were not easily accessible by rail and public transportation so we have made do with opportunities to pray where we could find them along the way.  This ninth candle is not a candle lit so much as illumination found in the collection of illuminated manuscripts now on display in a special exhibit at the British Library.  In addition to these beautiful Psalters and Gospels and the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Gospel of St. Cuthbert from the 3rd century and ancient Judaic, Islamic, Hindi, Buddhist and Sikh Scriptural texts, we saw ancient regal maps, laws, letters and first editions of works by Darwin and Shakespeare.  

After dinner we toured the British Museum which stays open until 10:30 pm on the weekends.  Here we saw the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, entire sections of the Parthenon and Assyrian temples.  The ninth candle is a page from the illuminated story of Creation depicting God holding dividers as he measures the earth and the heavens.  With this image of the Divine Architect we prayed for our Bold Awakening and Care of Creation committees and for all of us as we seek to re-imagine our living spaces, the future of our community and our relationship with all of creation.  May the Divine Architect bless this great work we undertake together so that it will truly be for the glory of God and not a labor indulged in vain.  May the Divine Architect help us not to be too short-sighted or too self-absorbed.