Be The Light
This time of year, the metaphor of a light in the darkness feels so apt, so natural, and yet, so problematic. Why is it we always equate the light with good and the dark with bad? Is it some childhood fear of the dark left over? Is it some hidden inner racism we don’t want to recognize? Is it simply longing for sunshine on these long dark nights of winter? Is it that we can’t see in the dark and feel we are confronting the unknown and the unknowable?
There is so much of darkness that is good. Deep rich soil, that nurtures the seeds until they are ready for the sunlight. Long dark winters, that give time for bulbs to set flowers deep inside them. Nights of rest and dreams that renew our bodies and minds. And yet …
And yet, these days, when so much cruelty and division is being perpetuated, the image that keeps coming to mind is darkness. A darkness that makes us long to bring light into the world.
Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem from President Biden’s inauguration, The Hill We Climb, had those famous lines which we repeat to ourselves often:
“For there is always light, If only we are brave enough to see it If only we are brave enough to be it.”
Are we brave enough to be the light that illuminates what is happening in the world? The shows the way to a better world?
December 10th is the 77th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. The first document of its kind, it set out the basic rights for all countries to protect. In 1948, the US was one of the forty-eight nations that voted to ratify the declaration. This year, on Dec. 10, Indivisible Cortland County will hold a candlelight vigil to celebrate this document, to remember that this is what our country stands for, and to stand up for the values and rights we believe in.
Join us at 6 pm, in Courthouse Park in Cortland as we light candles, gather in silence, and read the 30 human rights that our country voted to uphold and protect for all people. Together we can be the light.
