Bell Book and Candle

I use the phrase: Bell Book and Candle purely to signify the building blocks of literacy and not for the Roman Catholic association with excommunication.

For centuries past, those three items were all a teacher had to aid his/her work. The bell would attract attention and raise awareness. The book would educate and communicate ideas, and the candle would illuminate the darkness all around us.

I heard someone say the other day that he’s never read a book since he left school many years ago. So, who needs books in 2013, let alone a booktown? And we certainly don’t need candles anymore. We have all the electric lighting we need. Nobody lives in the dark anymore!

Don’t they, by God!

Recently a slender little girl in a foreign country put us all to shame. All she asked was that a little light to be cast on her darkness. But violent men said no! Education is not for you. This cannot be allowed. You are female. We should not allow women to go to school.

What we in the modern world take for granted was to be denied this child because of her gender.

The girl’s response was breathtakingly brave and I wonder how many grown men could have done what she did.

She did not rant and rave, but in her own quiet way, she rang a bell that shook the world.

She carried on going to school, was shot in the head and left for dead.

Since then it is as if a miracle has happened. Doctors have struggled to save her life. She is up and walking and still has a long way to go. If this girl is not a saint then I don’t know what sainthood is.
What she stands for is equality for all. No matter who they are or where they live.

While there are still young folk like her, there is hope for the world. She is not a slender candle but a giant beacon of light.