This Little Light

Love isn’t like gold -
it’s not a treasure
to be hoarded,
or valued
for its scarcity.

It’s more like the flame
of a solitary candle,
which, if not hidden,
spreads its light
like a wildfire,
sparking new flames
in every heart
it touches.

Precious and ubiquitous,
fragile, God-given,
it is always on the verge
of sputtering out -
from our neglect,
or the urgent breath of fear;
or being fanned -
by the gentle breath
of compassion.

Our love,
like everything we do,
lives or dies
in the web of choices
we are always making.

It is who we are,
and what we do,
when we expose the light
that shines within us.