As I started to retrieve my holiday decorations once again, my focus went first to the candles (now battery operated) that I use. It took me back to the days when my mother used to put them in the windows and how beautiful they were, especially when the light reflected off of the snow outside. It also took me back to the song that I loved titled “One Candle” that was always part of the holiday for me.“I am looking to the rest of my life here on this earth when we can truly see “peace on earth, good will toward men” in what I believe is the true meaning of this season and my wish is that others will join in with me.”
Barbara Jacoby
If you are not familiar with the lyrics, I would like to share them here:
“It is better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark
Better far that you light just one little candle
All you need’s a tiny spark.
If we’d all say a prayer that the world would be free
The wonderful dawn of a new day we’ll see
And if everyone lit just one little candle
What a bright world this would be”
As I was busy singing to my heart’s content, I suddenly realized a whole new meaning for me in the context of the current world situation. I believe that this has not been a matter of politics but one of good against evil. More than anything else, I pray for world peace each day. I ask God Almighty to help us to all get along and accept each other for who we are and what we believe without judgement of those values. Not only were we born with these freedoms but they are guaranteed to us in the United States by our constitution.
No matter in what country you live, nothing makes me sadder than when I see those who seek to control the behavior of another. This does not only apply to the “leaders” of a country, but any person for that matter, who believes that they have the right to dictate what another chooses to believe or do. This does not mean that I believe in what everyone else does but I do believe that we all have the right to freedom of choice as they do not answer to me. The ultimate judgement to me will come from the Lord, my God, according to my personal belief.
In the interim, as I light a pair of these candles on my dining room table each evening at twilight, I am looking to the rest of my life here on this earth when we can truly see “peace on earth, good will toward men” in what I believe is the true meaning of this season and my wish is that others will join in with me. And I would be most appreciative if we could remember that “If we’d all say a prayer that the world would be free, The wonderful dawn of a new day we’ll see, And if everyone lit just one little candle,What a bright world this would be”.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.