03/31/00

To Rabbi Wohl, members of the Coalition for Mutual Respect, guests on the pulpit, visitors, congregation of Temple Israel, and my church family from St. Catherine African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church who came to hold me up, greetings.

I was both humbled and honored to have been asked to bring the message this evening. I will be brief, but I hope to be able to make you remember some things, to think about some things and to challenge you to do a few things that you may not be doing and to do more of the things that you may already be doing.

My topic is: Light your candle where you are. There were several references that led me to this particular topic, one was musical, one was Biblical and one had to do with the person whose life we are celebrating this weekend.

Since music is my abiding love, I may be referring to various songs as I go along. As a child growing up we used to sing a song in Sunday School called Brighten the Corner Where You Are. I think that this song is reflective of the saying, "Better to light a candle than curse the darkness!"

My Biblical reference is from my favorite book of the Bible, the Psalms, and of course the definition of the word psalm is a sacred poem or song. Psalms chapter 119, verse 105 reads thusly: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path", which I feel is a reminder to us that whatever we do in our lives, it should really be done in and through our faith and our relationship with God, who will light our way as we travel through this world.

My third reference is related to the reason we are visiting with you here at Temple Israel. This is the weekend that we remember and honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., certainly a man of his century, who brought light to many areas of our country that were dark. Dr. King, who was born just a couple of years before I was born, lived and died in an age of violence in America. He grew up in a deeply divided and segregated south, but he left behind proof that one courageous person, speaking out without fear in favor of justice and equality for all, can make a difference.

As an orator, Dr. King had few equals and with his words he moved people to examine their consciences and he moved governments into action to change their patterns for the betterment of all Americans. And so I decided to quote some of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and use them as a mirror for us to reflect on our own consciences and our own behavior.

Obviously, most of us will never win a Nobel Prize or do things that would move the nation to declare a holiday on our birthdays, but that does not mean that there are not areas where we can bring a little light right where we live.

Dr. King said, and I quote: "There is nothing in all the world greater than freedom. It is worth paying for; it is worth losing a job for; it is worth going to jail for. I would rather be a free pauper than a rich slave. I would rather die in abject poverty with my convictions than live in inordinate riches with the lack of self-respect.

Few of us in this country will ever be called upon to go to jail for our beliefs or convictions, but I must challenge you not to take our freedoms for granted. We must be vigilant, because when we become complacent there are always people waiting to chip away at our freedoms. Many people thought that the gains made during the Civil Rights movement would be forever--but look around you, listen to the news reports. Sometimes I think that we are moving back towards the forties. Freedom is very elusive, affirmative action is under constant attack--DWB better known as Driving While Black has become very dangerous, especially for black males, and especially in New Jersey. Racial profiling, as it is called, was admitted to by New Jersey officials. I saw evidence of this in Cleveland in the 1960's, but I never dreamed it would still be blatant in the 1990's.

We can we do? Pay attention to what is going on around you, attend meetings, speak out when you see injustices, support groups that are pledged to improving relations between races like the Coalition. I'd also like to remind you that freedom comes a little easier in times of prosperity, but when times get hard and jobs get scarce, that's when people begin to show different stripes. Don't forget that Hitler came to power during an economic depression and some of the worse race riots in this country occurred during economic downturns. Keep tabs on the candidates for office, local, state and federal--know what they stand for and let your voice be heard at the pools--your vote--that's your candle.

I mentioned earlier that Dr. King confronted violence throughout his life. Here's his quote: "Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."

Violence seems to be escalating around us. Our children are killing each other on the streets as well as in our schools. Where and how are they getting the guns? Getting a handgun seems to be as easy as buying a pizza. The gun lobby seems to have a stranglehold on our government officials and the proliferation of weapons doesn't seem to bother them enough to really do much about it. Maybe it's time for us to stand up and say enough, and back it up with votes.

Having been a teacher most of my adult life, the violence in the schools really saddens me. Schools used to be one of the safest places in our communities, Parents never worried about their children once they were in school. What has happened? There are no easy answers, but my candle for this phenomenon is also vigilance. Pay attention to your children. Many of the perpetrators of school violence as well as the violence on the streets are children crying out for attention or for help. Watch what you say around your children. Children often reflect attitudes that we don’t know that we are showing. In this wonderful age of computers, try to monitor what your children are listening to and who they are talking to on the Internet. I know that this may not be easy to do, but there is a lot of hatred and violent talk out on the web, so it may be worth the effort. Listen to your children and let them know that you are there for them.

Well, I've come to my favorite part--how we can light a candle for each other. People who know me well, know that I believe in a positive outlook and that we should reach out to our neighbors and friends in a positive way.

Here is Dr. King's quote on this subject: "In a real sense all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."

We light our candles when we call someone who is ill or feeling down and we lift their spirits with our calls, prayers, cards or flowers.

Did you know that there are people in the nursing homes who seldom get visitors? Reach out and touch someone. There was a popular song in the 1940's that encouraged us to: "Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative". Another candle you can light in your own life is to check out that grudge or anger that you may be harboring towards someone. Drop it! Forgive them and move on with your life. Incidentally, that candle will burn at both ends because it has been scientifically proven that carrying anger makes for ill health in the body of the carrier.

We never really know what impact we may have on another person. As I close, I hope that you will indulge me for a personal reference. I've told this story many times because it had such an impact on me personally, so it you have heard it before, please forgive me.

I taught school for about 38 years, 20 of them here in New Rochelle. A few years ago Edwina Carew called me from the Board of Education and told me that someone had called trying to get my telephone number, but she did not want to give out that information so she took the person's number and I could call them if I chose to. It was a student that I had at Barnard School in the early 1970's who was now living in California. I called the number and spoke to a gentleman named Kirk Conole. He asked if I remembered him. I had taught him and his brother and a sister. He told me that he was the naughty one. I remembered immediately. He said that he had moved to San Diego, had gone into the ministry and was a member of the Board of Education in his town. During a heated discussion on money for some school project, he said one of the members got up and said that she was going to vote in favor of funding the money because she had a teacher in elementary school who turned her life around. He said I thought of you immediately. He said I never really liked school and was always into something, then when I came to your class, you didn't take any stuff off of any of us, but you made everyone feel good about themselves, and you also told us, "you can be anything that you really want to be", so I'm calling to say "Thank you!" When I hung up I cried my head off. He was saying that I lit his candle, but he certainly lighted (sic) mine by that call. We never really know.

My final quote from Dr. King is: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy."

Where do you stand? Light you candle.

(This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, etc.)

Bernice W. Smith

Friday, January 14^th, 2000

Temple Israel

1000 Pinebrook Blvd.

New Rochelle, NY