Once, there was a small candle that lived on a high shelf in the Temple of Light. Surrounded by brilliance, it never knew its own glow. One day, it said to the Great Flame, \u201cI want to know what it means to shine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Great Flame replied, \u201cThen you must go into the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The candle trembled. \u201cWon\u2019t I be alone?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNever,\u201d said the Flame. \u201cOthers will go with you. Some to guide you. Some to challenge you. Some to help you see who you truly are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, the candle was placed deep in a cave\u2014no light, no voices, only stillness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It cried. It forgot why it came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until one day, a whisper stirred in the silence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are not the darkness. You are the flame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the candle lit itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cave wasn\u2019t so scary anymore.
And as it walked, it saw others\u2014dim, struggling to spark. So the candle lit them, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It never forgot the cave. Or the courage it took to shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But now, it finally understood:
It had chosen the dark\u2026 to remember it was light.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\naudio version:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n