This evening I attended a candlelight vigil with friends to remember the people who were killed while at worship in their temple. The victims were members of the Sikh community in Wisconsin. My boyfriend and I have friends in the Sikh community here in San Diego, and so when they invited us to join them in an evening vigil, we said yes.
As we all stood outside the temple, candles in hand, passing the flame from one candle to another, you could see the wave of light spreading out from a single source. It was a particularly windy spot where the vigil stood, so individual candle lights blew out throughout the crowd. And as someone’s light blew out, other lights leaned in to share their own and reignite the fire.
Watching this unfold, it seemed particularly meaningful in the light of tragedies such as these. Looking at my own fragile candle flame, I thought to myself, “My faith is strong. I believe in the goodness of people. I know that people are fundamentally good.” And as my candle’s flame flickered out, it made me think of the times in my life where it’s been hard to remember this belief. When people I loved were ripped away from me and I couldn’t understand why. When horrible things happened to good people. When senseless crimes – such as the shooting of these Sikhs in their temple in Wisconsin – leave a community devastated and grieving. Even when trying to preserve the flame, sometimes it just flickers out and leaves you wondering what else you could have done to preserve it.
I stood looking at my candle’s freshly-extinguished wick, then looked up to see three smiling faces leaning towards me… their lit candles outstretched to reignite my own. Newly lit, my candle began to seek out those about me whose candles had just gone out. And smiling, together, we kept the flames alive for the community.
It was a beautiful night.
Standing Vigil with the San Diego Sikh Community
