This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine . . .
And if everyone lights just one little candle, what a bright world it will be . . .
The state of the world is probably no worse than it has ever been, and is likely even a bit better than it has been during much of our history. But it’s gettin’ me down, maybe the result of a sinus infection that won’t leave. The news seems truly wretched, tacky even, and for a Southerner, that’s saying a lot. I try to avoid it whenever possible. My husband is a news junky, and deeply concerned about our current political situation, so whenever I pass by his den (TV on), I move quickly, eyes averted and ears cocked in another direction. Ole Hank has picked up on my aversion, and huddles his bulk by my chair in another room, hiding in the shadows from something he is picking up on as truly fearsome. Maybe we should trust more in the wisdom of our dawgs.
During my indoctrination in church school, summer Bible school, weekday religious education, the whole nine yards of my benign Protestant upbringing, (which I loved, both as a student and teacher in our small country church), the two refrains above figured largely in the songs we would sing, accompanied of course by appropriate motions. They sunk into the fibers of my soul, and I still believe ’em to my very core.
Let’s be about the business of lighting candles, no agenda other than holding a simple light . . .