It’s Better to Light One Candle than to Curse the Darkness

Whether you consider this saying to be from an old Chinese proverb, or one credited to Eleanor Roosevelt, the meaning varies from “it’s better to do something about a problem than just complain about  it”, to just being a way to get through hard times, either one would be welcome and useful in today’s environment.

Without sounding too naïve and pollyannaish, the world has become a nastier place than any time in my lifetime which dates back to the end of WWII.

It’s unlikely that you’re ever going to get all Israelis to ‘love’ or even just get along with Syrians and vice versa, or even NY Yankee fans to ‘love’ NY Mets fans, but in every country in the world, there are people who are always attempting to find common grounds and ways that we can just peacefully get along.

In my humble opinion and in a very simplistic fashion, I believe there is only one form of ‘discrimination’,  that being:  YOU are DIFFERENT from ME. Whether that’s race, religion, or political affiliation, most, but not all of us see the world only through their own set of lens.  But I do believe that there are ways to ‘change our lens’ so we see things and people differently.

Watch some YouTube videos sometime of animals that, usually, are mortal enemies, but instead are treating and accepting each other as if they are of the same species, or even a member of their own family. Here’s one link showing this:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfkt2LCvS3Y&list=PLYZ8jvuaFC6ciVk3UIsWBzla8ToEpI78c&index=1

I sincerely believe that NetWeaving holds the possibility of becoming ONE candle that can be lit to bring more people together in ways that they can at least grow to accept others, as well as their opinions.

In some small way, perhaps ‘hosting’ virtual NetWeaving meetings on Zoom can help bring people together and one of the things that I will be featuring on these blog posts are various peoples’ suggestions on how to have civil conversations even with people with whom you completely disagree.

We will be needing every way possible during the election year of 2024 to accomplish that!