Light One Candle

Dear Rach,

Tonight, all over the world, parents are lighting a candle in memory of a child that has died. From the Compassionate Friends organization:

The ninth annual Worldwide Candle Lighting, held the second Sunday in December around the globe, is an opportunity for bereaved families everywhere to remember and celebrate the lives of children who have gone too soon. Families are invited to attend any of the hundreds of formal services throughout the United States and the world or to light a candle in the privacy of their home. You do not need to be a member of The Compassionate Friends to participate.

I Googled "candle" and "lyrics" trying to come up with a title for this entry and came upon a song I've never heard of. Many of the lines brought tears to my eyes so I decided to simply include the song in its entirety.

Light one candle for the maccabee children
With thanks that their light didn't die
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
But light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand

Chorus:
Don't let the light go out!
It's lasted for so many years!
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears.

Light one candle for the strength that we need
To never become our own foe
And light one candle for those who are suffering
Pain we learned so long ago
Light one candle for all we believe in
That anger not tear us apart
And light one candle to find us together
With peace as the song in our hearts

(chorus)

What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What's the commitment to those who have died
That we cry out they've not died in vain?
We have come this far always believing
That justice would somehow prevail
This is the burden, this is the promise
This is why we will not fail!

(chorus)

Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!

(Peter, Paul and Mary)

At 7:00 a candle will be lit in Lincoln, Nebraska in loving memory of you, the light of so many lives. At 7:00 EST another candle will be lit in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Your mommy and daughter are attending a service to commemorate their love for you.

We love and miss you.

Love, Les