Let it Shine! by Nancy M Bell

Hi Everyone! Well, Surrey International Writers Conference is over for another year. It was so much fun seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Without a doubt one of the best conferences around. I had the pleasure of talking with Renee Sarojini Saklikar, Surrey's Poet Laureate. What a sweet and warm person she is! The weekend was packed full of great workshops covering every topic imaginable. There was a red carpet station in the lobby and on Saturday night a group of us took full advantage of the opportunity to ham it up.

Originally, I had no intention of speaking about anything political, but with the events in Paris on the weekend I feel I should mention something. My heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones, and to those who are wounded and struggling with the aftermath. The world is becoming stranger and stranger all the time. I am at a loss to understand how the taking of innocent lives can promote a political cause. How off kilter our world and society has become. It is not only happening in Europe, but here in North America as well. Shootings in shopping malls and in movie theatres, and schools. The darkness of the collective soul of our humanity seems to be overshadowing the light that exists in all of us.

The Christmas season is coming soon and with it the strengthening of the hours of light in our days. Whether a person chooses to celebrate the birth of Christ, or Solstice and the return of the Light, or whatever beliefs they may have, what I believe is important is that we are all headed in the same direction. Walking toward the Light. It doesn't matter what different paths we take to get there. One of the truest things I think I have read is the words- "And all the gods and goddesses are One in the end. All things begin and end in the Light." You don't have to agree with me, just as I don't have to agree with you. What is important is that we all honour each others' beliefs. The proviso here is that those beliefs should harm no one. So, yes I couldn't condone a belief that involves sacrifice of any living being and I would speak out against it. Pain, guilt, exerting power over another are not hallmarks of the Light. And there we come to it: Power. The more I research and read, the more I come to understand that Power, not money, is at the root of all evil. Money is just a by product of Power.

So, let's celebrate the Light that shines in each of us this season of Love and Light. Engage in random acts of kindness, let your heart light shine on those you love and on those you don't know. If each of us sends our good will and bright thoughts out into the world, be sure it can make a difference. We need to strengthen and feed the flickering flame of our humanity. We are all the same under the skin. Good is Good, no matter what guise it wears, while Evil is Evil no matter what face it wears.

I wish you every good thing as we approach the Season of Light. This dark part of the year gives us time to look inward and reflect on what is important to us and how we can go forward in harmony with the world and those around us. I believe the Light will prevail in the end if we each do our small part.

Until next month...

Nancy M Bell has publishing credits in poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Nancy has presented at the Surrey International Writers Conference and the Writers Guild of Alberta Conference. Please visit her webpage
http://www.nancymbell.ca
You can find her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/NancyMBell
Follow on twitter: @emilypikkasso
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