Light
a Candle
“It is
better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”
Eleanor
Roosevelt
On Wednesday night, the
Spirituality Group needed to debrief from the events that began in
Charlottesville over the weekend. All of us are “Boomers,” yet none of us had ever seen armed Nazis with torches
marching in the streets of an American city. The major question:
“What can I do that will make a difference?” We talked about the
obvious—call your representatives, or write letters telling them your views; demonstrate, stand vigil, pray. The one that seems
most important to me–keep your spiritual community together. Stay
close enough to keep your own light burning brightly, and to stoke the
fire in one another.
Anne Frank, who knew the
Nazi threat all too well, wrote: “Look at how a single candle can
both defy and define the darkness.” When we are feeling low and
helpless, lighting a candle is one way to lift our spirits. Lighting
a candle and adding a prayer is even better. Pat Schneider, in How
the Light Gets in: Writing as a Spiritual Practice, says this:
“...there are truly many ways to pray, and lighting a candle is
one of them.” My supply of Virgin of Guadeloupe candles is
quite depleted now but, believe me, I will get more.
We need to hold the
people of Charlottesville and Barcelona in our hearts. Light a candle
for them. Also, remember Sierra Leone, where they are digging out of
mudslides that destroyed their villages and killed more than 400
people. Light a candle for them. The people of Yemen, Somalia, Sudan,
and the destroyed country of Syria. Light a candle for them. For all
our brothers and sisters living in refugee camps. Light a candle for
them. For wisdom in the U.S. and North Korea; for patience and
restraint among all the world's leaders. Light a candle for that. For
love, not hate, to swell and grow. Light that one, too. Darkness
cannot prevail against so many candles.
And, do not forget to
light one for yourself. Hold it out; share it with others. Take
comfort from the fact that you stand at the front of a long line of
humanity, stretching back eons, who have lighted candles and prayed
for peace. Maybe these prayers of ours, and these lights, will be the
ones that finally bring it.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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