“It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used this thought to close his television program.
What we have discovered is that it is very easy to “curse the darkness.” Cursing is not swearing. Cursing is a form of criticism. It is a means of expressing a deep dissatisfaction with the way “it” is. “It” being anything that we want it to mean.
Each of us have a candle to light. That is, each Christian has a candle to light. Jesus speaks of the Christian and light:
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven, (Matthew 5:14-16 NRSV)
To light a lamp or a candle is to become involved, in a positive way, in seeking to address perceived wrongs, and to use one’s influence to bring about constructive change. Lighting a candle means to use one’s talents, abilities, and skills to create what needs to be achieved, rather than waiting for someone else to do it for you. It means remaining where you are, rather than seeking what it is that you feel you need in other directions where needs may not be ultimately met.
By getting involved in creating what is needed we do good deeds. As Portia in Shakespear’s play, The Merchant of Venice, says: “That little light we see burning in my hall. How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world”
Adlai Stevenson said of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, “She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world.”
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’…You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Enough said. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine, and shine everywhere.