Don't Let the Lights Go Out

I was just in the middle of doing some accounting work and in the background, Peter, Paul and Mary were singing a song about Hannukah, the Jewish festival of lights. The song they were singing was "Don't Let the Lights Go Out." The holiday celebrates how the Jewish people recovered their freedom from the ancient Syrian king. More importantly, it was a celebration of hope that even if things are really discouraging in our world, there is always hope that we can actually do something to make things better than they are today.

With the sad events of the last five years since September 11th still very raw in my memory, I listened to that song as a Jew and an American... and as a citizen of the world. I get very emotional when I hear songs like this one. The song asks why we hold onto memories from one generation to another. Why do we bother to remember that a brave band of outnumbered soldiers over two thousand years ago fought for freedom and the right to worship as they wished to worship? Why do we even work for peace when we know that there has never been one moment in human history when mankind was not at war somewhere on this small planet? Peter, Paul and Mary sing that we believe that "...the peacemakers time is at hand." Given what we have witnessed in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Israel and Lebanon, and in New York City on 9/11, how can we even believe that peace is a possibility ever? How can we even believe that there is any reason to hope that mankind can ever rise above ambition, hatred, greed and apathy? How indeed?

And yet as individuals, we do hope for something better for ourselves and our loved ones, in spite of everything. Tears came to my eyes as I listened to the song. I am usually saddened by what I read, hear and see in the media. I look around and see, for example, people starving in many parts of the world and in other parts of the world, good food just ends up in a dumpster.

But then I do see signs of hope. When the tsunami hit Asia several years ago, the world opened it's heart and came out to help the many people who were suffering in the aftermath. During the dark days after 9/11, the people of this nation forgot their differences and we became one people, in a common cause to help the people of New York City. Billionaires like Bill Gates have set up foundations that give away more money than even the United States provides to make medications available to people who cannot afford them in poorer nations. [Unfortunately, it is not much of a stretch to give more aid for medication than the United States or many of the developed nations give annually.] When the hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast not so long ago, assistance came from around the world. And when an earthquake hit the Middle East, eleven paramedics from New York, using their own funds, were the only medical team in one area of the devastation for over three weeks. It wasn't something they had to do. But it was something they knew needed to be done, and that they were the people to do it. So there is reason for hope. Only a brief glimmer of hope, to be sure, but just enough to keep us going for one more day.

So my thoughts drift back to the song about lighting the Hannukah candles every year. Those 8 candles remind us never to ever give up when we thinking that nothing that we can do will ever make a difference in the world. Those candles remind us that each of us makes a difference in the world every day, even if we are not aware of it. There is always cause for hope. So I am hoping that I am reaching you when I say this. It is up to every one of us, every day of every year, to keep the faith and to believe that this world can be a better place. We have to shout out loud and clear: "Don't let the lights go out!"

Visual Food for Thought - 2