May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2
I have this thing for incense.
I use old glass candle jars as incense holders. It means the fragrance is enhanced as the ash drops onto the wax. Over months' time, you get the picture above. A series of incense. A series of moments and then a moment when you have to toss out the old jar - reluctantly. Because it's become a ritual. A prayer.
I say reluctantly because I know I'd burned incense through the months. In the mornings on my days off, in the evenings when I come home from work... midday when I just need to change the environment in the house. Funny enough, my father is also addicted to incense just like I am. So I'm sure I got it honest.
But what remains within the ashes and the stems? I've always wondered what the jar would say. I'm constantly intrigued by the patterns that form. The order in which they were burned. The prayers I may have offered with each one I lit.
I thought I would just capture the image - worthy of it's own moment.