It will probably come as no surprise to most people that, as a child, I was somewhat of a hellion. That trait has been one that seems to have stayed with me through my adult life as well. It only takes a spark to release the “devil” within me, and there are always far too many devilish sparks just waiting to land. Likewise I think I may subconsciously seek out a few of those sparks just to see what happens.

May I suggest that there some other sparks that we all need to seek out as well. The spark that first drew us to our mates, the spark that we get from our singing, the spark we get when things go well and the special spark that helps define each of us a unique child of God.

While I have no way of knowing how each of us arrived at the point in which we now live, it belabors the obvious to say that somehow we all arrived together in this city, this church and this choir at this time. I wonder what sparks each of us lit, left and carried in our journey to this place.

From a personal standpoint, this is only my fifth church since 1965 and only the seventh in my life. In this age of transience, that seems a remarkably low number. In each of these churches someone has attempted to light a spark for me and in the last five (I was just a kid in the first two), I have tried to leave a spark behind. I have no idea how successful those attempts have been, nor do I know if some that I started have gone out or whether any that I started have moved on to another church somewhere else. Selfishly, I would like to think that all my sparks are still burning somewhere. As the song says, “it only takes a spark to start a fire glowing… that’s how it is with God’s love…you want to pass it on.”

Where I find myself struggling in all of this is keeping my own embers hot. I can catch the occasional spark and try to pass it on, but how do I keep my own spark glowing? Personally, I find it rather selfish to ask others to pray for me. There is so much pain in others – much of it a matter of life and death. We, as a choir, have experienced the deep shock and sadness that comes with the death of a loved one and helping to heal a pain so deep and personal may require a spark from each of us – perhaps even our very last one.

After giving our last spark to someone else we start to seek our own next ember, no matter how faint the glow. Sometimes I wonder where the next spark is going to come from, while at other times I wonder how in the world a particular spark managed to find me. If I search too earnestly, I don’t seem to find it. On the other hand, if I am not on the lookout for it at all, I might miss it.

During the Lenten season, we become more introspective about our relationship with God, Jesus, the church and others. God passed his spark to Jesus, who then used his spark to change Western civilization. I don’t’ pretend to have a spark of the same magnitude as Christ, but I hope that somewhere along the way I have left a hot spot or two.

Take a minute this season to see where you might want to start a little fire; and at the same time keep an eye out for the spark someone has left for you.

If you have a spare, I’ll take it.