Years ago my friend and long-time writer and marketing mentor Harvey Warner (now 92) gave me a little book that I often turn to for emotional shelter. The writing takes me to another place in time and allows me to rest mentally. It’s titled A Touch of Wonder and was written by Arthur Gordon, who wrote while living in coastal Georgia. The last entry in the book never fails to touch my heart.
“‘There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of one small candle.’ This inscription was found on a small, new gravestone after a devastating air raid on Britain in World War II. Some thought it must be a famous quotation, but it wasn’t. The words were written by a lonely old lady whose pet had been killed by a Nazi bomb.
“I have always remembered those words, not so much for their poetry and imagery as for the truth they contain. In moments of discouragement, defeat or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things, usually: remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind—in fact, any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved.
“No man or woman is so poor as not to have many of these small candles. When they are lighted, darkness goes away . . . and a touch of wonder remains.”
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