Flame

I struck a match to light a candle and was startled when a tiny spark flew from the burning match on its way to connecting with the wick. The hand poured candle in the custom made cement jar created by a local craftswoman was sitting on a fully utilized bookshelf in a carpeted room. There was obviously more than enough “tinder” on hand to set this room in my home ablaze. I nervously moved a basket and velvet pillow that were on the floor and in the flightpath of that spark. Not being able to see it and knowing that the tiny ember was still there, all else I could think to do was to grab a nearby water mister and douse, or spritz shall we say, the entire area where the spark had landed. I was purpose driven in that moment. “That spark shall not live to create a flame!”

We’re not always that intentional when we whip out our metaphorical misters and put out someone else’s spark. It happens more than we know unless we’re mindful.

When the spark of a new idea someone brings to the table doesn’t make sense to us we snuff it out. When their early glimpse of a new dream seems impossible (to us) we may redirect them to an endeavor that seems more practical. To us.

Let us not be guilty of killing a dream or mission or purpose that seems risky, unlikely, or impossible simply because the idea is beyond the scope of our own understanding or comfort zone. The idea or innovation may light the way for unseen others in the future. Be not too quick to extinguish that spark.