Andy Dapron reflects: As a contemplative practitioner for several years now, I can admit freely that, upon turning my gaze interiorly, I still find a good deal of clutter.  I suppose this shouldn’t surprise me: the false, illusory selves that we think we are, with all their habits, processes, expectations, and reactions are built over our lifetimes. How audacious would I have to be to imagine it would take any less time than that to deconstruct my own false self? Where, then, is the joy to be found in this seemingly endless process of peeling back one more layer of illusion? The lighting of candles at this time of year helps me to have perspective. In the midst of a jam-packed run up to Christmas, simple candles remind us of the presence of Christ in the midst of it all, lighting the way. Likewise, in my prayer, in the midst of slowly divesting of the accumulated clutter of a lifetime, I catch the flicker, and grow in awareness of, that light of Christ, burning somehow both subtly and brightly in me, in you, in all of us from the first moment of our existence. That is cause for true joy.