Lights in Our World

The Lights of Chanukah are ephemeral and the candles quickly burn low.
This is a photo I took of my mother’s electric menorah, a gift given to her
when she was in Robison Nursing home and real flames were not allowed.
The flames in this image are reflected in my upstairs window. 

I think of my mother who is with me every time I light all of my menorahs. I find myself feeling she’s eternally with me and a definite light in my heart. We humans are also ephemeral, but our love for each other is eternal. 

I too will fade into darkenss. My love for my children, grandchildren, family and friends  will shine from within me with my last breath. I know the next generations will carry forward and will continue celebrating holidays of lights. 

In the darkest season when the sky is clear, we see those tiny specks of light, the stars. I find comfort in this. I know I am a part of this vast Universe. That sense of being of Life quiets me into acceptance of this moment I’m experiencing, as if it is every moment. My short life in the infinite is a continuum.

We light memorial candles, candles when praying for others, to honor their spirits and share our hopes for them; we want to bring light. 

Some who hate carry torches of hatred, as they did in South Carolina, or when they burn crosses to threaten and intimidate. But then those who are in support of our diversity and our democracy held, and hold candlelight vigils. Their spirits are life-supporting and in synchronicity with goodness. We often lump the words goodness and light. 

The very word light begins to riff in my brain.

Light is emanating from fireflies in my memory and fills me with delight. Light shafts from beneath clouds create the “God Sky” when Moses is depicted receiving the Ten Commandments. Dawn sheds light  in the sky, sometimes aflame in rose golden tones. 

The amazing solar eclipse, which Paul and I viewed from our back deck, astonished us as we watched day become night, and then, eery light cast shadows, as the sun again took the sky. It awed us.  It made real that we are of, and need light.  There is only beauty in the word light. 

Myriads of songs are about light. One of my favorite lines from Chelsea Morning (Joni Mitchell) is:  “And the light poured in like honey casting shadows in the room.” We call someone we love, “The Light of My Life.” We use a light touch to sooth someone. Butterflies alight on something, or someone, instead of landing. 

In the 18th Century,The Age of Reason, or Enlightenment, was a highlight in our Western Culture, with Emmanuel Kant saying: “Dare to know! Have Courage to use your own reason.” Both the American and French Revolution came of that age. So did the harnessing of electricity. Lights sparkle all over the world and we see our nights aglow from way above.

Scientific discoveries shed light on things we need to understand, in order to remedy them. In Northern climates, Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) is due to lack of natural light. If our bodies can’t produce Vit. D, which we acquire when we’re in sunlight, we must swallow our sunshine Vitamin D. Good medical research by the late great Oliver Sacks shed light on this.

When we realized we’ve done wrong, we see the light. We equate light with God. Christians depict Jesus and angels with halos of light. Moses saw the burning bush that only seemed to be burning, but heard God talking to him. Moses asked what should I call you? What is your name? “I am that I am.” But in our worlds and faiths we see God as Light. In the Temple, the Hebrew Priests sanctified oil to keep the eternal flame, the metaphoric holy spirit burning, This became the basis for the story of our Chanukah miracle. 

Now we are nearing the end of a great darkness in our country. But just as the Winter Solstice promises more light each day, so does the coming of a new President and Vice-President, who see the light, and will again try to make our country a light to the world. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

My heart is feeling lighter.  Our way is lit towards hope.