Tag: old books

A Story for Christmas: The Candle in the Window

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 Pour yourself a glass of eggnog (or a cup of hot cocoa) and imagine yourself in the Star City Hotel on a snowy Christmas Eve in Kansas. Then listen with me to a story called “The Candle in the Window”[1].

This story takes place in the Smoky – there’s no “e”, honest! – Hill area of Kansas in 1917. (You’ll remember that the world was engulfed in WWI then.) There you will meet characters like a mailman named Tod Witherspoon, a boy named Tully Gabel and a one-room school teacher named Ruth Ravenstow.  

Tod Witherspoon is what we might all wish for in a mailman – helpful, conscientious, and personable. As he says, “Well, there never was a postal regulation against bein’ human ever reached as far as my route.”[2] 

Tully Gabel is inquisitive and intuitive. His nickname “P-like” comes from “play like”, his version of pretending.

And Miss Ruth Ravenstow? Mysterious might be the right word. Not in a bad way exactly. In some ways, she’s normal. Her students love her and learn from her. The enigma of Miss Ravenstow, you see, is that she keeps to herself and never ever smiles. Beyond that, Tod Witherspoon doesn’t get to deliver a single, real letter to her.

When Tod tries to reach out to Miss Ravenstow and shares with her both his favorite childhood Christmas memory of putting a candle in the window on Christmas Eve and a candle for her own window, her response is telling: 

“What will it mean to the world the twenty-fifth of December 1917 The world was never so full of hate before. And who would see my candle if I happened to light one?” [3]

Have you ever felt like Miss Ravenstow or known someone like her? Sometimes the dark scenes of life overwhelm us so much that we may feel that any good we try to do – or even our very selves – go unnoticed.

That is when we need someone like Tod to shed a little truth into our gloomy hearts.

“Well, you can call me an old-style codger, Miss Ravenstow, but may I say that there’s One who always sees. And in a world full of hate, He came to love. He loved us so much He came as a babe and then He gave up His life for us…That’s the love I remember whenever I see a candle in the window.” [4]

Ah, yes, we are never unseen by this God of love. Depending on where you are in life, that may be the most comforting truth in the whole wide world. 

If you continue with the story, you’ll find that Miss Ravenstow does put her candle in the window and that more than the One Someone see it. But how does it all play out and why does Miss Ravenstow never smile? Now what do you think I’m going to say? That’s right…You might just have to listen to the story yourself.  No worries, you’re guaranteed a happy ending; it is a Christmas story after all!

I think the candle in the window represents love and hope. And that’s what I’m wishing and praying for you this Christmas season and New Year – love and hope! Not because life is so good – it isn’t always, is it? – but because God is good. Not because we have everything we want – we don’t always, do we? – but because God gave us His love and grace wrapped up in Baby Jesus. Not because things work out how we want – they don’t always, do they? – but because Jesus is reigning over all and yet knows and shares in the smallest details of our lives. Not because life is without tears – how can it be? – but because as we celebrate Jesus’ first coming to earth, we can also look ahead to when He will wipe away the tears from our eyes.

May the hope of Christmas and the love of Jesus glow in your hearts and reach out to those around you like a candle in the window.

1 Note: The book The Candle in the Window by Margaret Hill McCarter has been adapted into a radio theatre production of the same title by John Fornof. I have enjoyed both versions and have taken quotes from both. 

2 Margaret Hill McCarter, The Candle in the Window (Lamplighter Publishing, 2013), pg. 21.

3 Ibid., pg. 44

4 John Fornof, “The Candle in the Window” (Lamplighter Radio Theatre, 2013)

Ties Between Writer & Reader: How a 19th-Century Lady of England Connects with Her 21st-Century Guatemala-Born Reader

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When I cracked the cover of The Haunted Room, the author’s preface caught my attention. Writing under a pseudonym, A.L.O.E. (A Lady of England) penned this preface in 1889 more than a century before I picked up a reprint of her book. In the preface’s second paragraph, she says, “If there be, as she fain would hope, something of a tie between a writer and those familiar with her works….” Ties between author and reader? Yes, I, for one, found some connections with A.L.O.E. even though her life and mine are separated by time and (usually) the vast Atlantic Ocean.

As she opens her novel with what could be called a kind of snail-mail letter to the reader, A.L.O.E. confides that she will soon be moving to India where she hopes to work in the “evening hour” of her life. I can definitely relate to her feelings on leaving home since I, too, have come and gone from both of my homelands, the land of my birth and the land of my family. I wonder if A.L.O.E. ever came to feel as if India were her homeland just as much as England? I know Guatemala will always be home to part of my heart.

With her move, A.L.O.E. of course anticipates learning a new language and asks for prayers from her readers in this new venture. Ah, I have stood in her shoes (and even still do) as I’ve tried my tongue at learning a new language or two. A.L.O.E.’s words also bring to mind my Spanish students who I’m sure can empathize with her as well. Let’s state it plainly: learning a language is hard, hard work. However, what a joy it can be to communicate with someone in the language that not only makes sense in his head but also sings in his heart! 

The Hidden Jewel book picLastly, A.L.O.E. referred to “Indian gems”. This reminds me of a book my dad read to me when I was a little girl about Amy Carmichael, another woman who worked in India. The Hidden Jewel is a historical fiction novel that tells of Amy’s struggle to rescue young Indian girls from temple slavery. Perhaps I’ll have to pick up that book again. At any rate, I connected with A.L.O.E. because of her view of people. She called these people “gems” – that is, something of intrinsic value. Like A.L.O.E. I also believe that each human being has worth whether they be an English lord or an Indian leper.

The Haunted Room picThus, thanks to A.L.O.E.’s short note to her readers, I have discovered these ties between us across the decades and the ocean and am rather excited to keep reading her book. It’s appearing to be just the thing you’ll want to pick up for a good read on October 31st. After all, it is called The Haunted Room! 

And, perhaps, more authors should write to their readers in their books. Do you think A.L.O.E. ever envisioned a Guatemala-born girl reading her book in the year 2015? Who knows? Who might read what you write some day in the future? Now that might make us be careful what we write..