Sunday Afternoon Tea - Candle in the Wind

And it seems to me you lived your life
like a candle in the wind:
never fading with the sunset
when the rain set in.
And your footsteps will always fall here,
among England's greenest hills;
your candle's burned out long before
your legend ever will.*

I turned the radio on in the van last week, an oldies channel was what came on instantly.  Since it was time for a favorite Moody Radio show, I was ready to change the channel when I realized what song was playing at the time.

I listened.  I remembered.  Tears falling down my face as I drove the County Road to the Highway. The first time all of us heard that song with those lyrics was when Princess Diana's funeral was broadcast worldwide.  The song had been a pop hit previously, now the words were changed just a bit to reflect the life lost so young.

The lyrics I will always recall from that song and that day are, "And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind".  Have you ever tried to light a candle when the wind is blowing?  The light may occur but briefly.  The wind snuffs out the flame, often within seconds.

I always liked her.  Even when she was attempting to find love in all the wrong places.  I understood.  I prayed.  Hoping there was someone who was brave enough to show a Princess the Author of all Love.  The True King.  She was so... sad.

Not long ago, when Downton Abbey's new shows were playing, PBS aired a multi-part series about the famous castles (estates) of England.  One of the shows was about Althorp, the Spencer family estate.

In it Diana's brother, Lord Spencer, talked about the history of the estate which reached back nineteen generations.  While it was beautiful, what touched my heart was the final resting place of Princess Diana.  On an island in the estate where she grew up.  Away from everyone but those who truly loved her.

That song haunted me the rest of the day, as such lyrics often do.  But what kept coming back to my thinking was the difference between a life lived like a candle in the wind compared to one who is firmly grounded in the Rock of our Salvation.

All of us go through hurricane strength trials.  I have felt at such times that God has finally allowed a trial to which I'm sinking to such depths that I cannot survive this time.  I had to remind myself to breath.   It. Was. Too. Hard.

But He didn't let me go and much to my surprise, I lived and was stronger for having walked through the storm.  But without Him, it would have all been different.  I, too, would have been snuffed out in the hurricane strength trials life can bring.

I thought of the words to another song, the lyrics I have hummed in the midst of adversity. 

I have journeyed
Through the long, dark night
Out on the open sea

By faith alone
Sight unknown
And yet His eyes were watching me.

The anchor holds
Though the ship is battered
The anchor holds
Though the sails are torn.

I have fallen on my knees
As I faced the raging seas
The anchor holds
In spite of the storm...**

What a difference in the two songs.  In one the person in the windstorm is snuffed out, only the legend remains.  In the second, the person is held strong, as the Anchor holds them safely until the storm is over.

I was thinking again how Christianity is not about religion, even if it is important to know the Bible and the Truths of our faith.  It is the Person who holds us safely, the Anchor who keeps us from falling.

Not a bunch of doctrine, even though knowing doctrine is important.  Not a favorite Bible teacher or pastor or speaker.  It is the indwelling Holy Spirit of the Trinity that is the Flame that never ceases, the Rock that never fails, the Anchor that never lets go.

I love the Bible verse that says, "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus".***

He won't let us go and He will never ever ever give up on us.  Even when the winds of adversity are rocking our boat and we think we will go under.  The anchor holds.

*  Lyrics: Bernard Taupin, Singer: Elton John

** Lyrics: Chewning & Boltz, Singer: Ray Boltz

***Philippians 1:6 NASB

Image:  Cotswolds Evening by Robert Duncan