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Candelight Vigil proves that love will prevail in the face of tragedy By
Debra Anne Brough The air was tinted with the soft scent of smoke and sweet fire as around me candles were lit and little flames danced in the evening wind. Hundreds of students filled the grassy flats of Utah State University's Quad on Thursday, Sept.13, to honor those who had died in the horrendous acts of terrorism on the morning of Sept.11. It was a beautiful sight. The night's darkness hid and made irrelevant each person's race and color. At that vigil, everyone had their own identifying features, but all were alike in heart and intent. It still feels so surreal. The planes, the tumbling buildings, the many lives lost, and the incomprehensible hatred that must have been required to do such a thing. I shake my head and wonder how we can go to bed one night thinking all is right, and that the world with our many loved ones in it is safe, only to wake up in the morning to find unimaginable chaos unfold on our television sets and radios. We felt secure, wrapped up in our safety net, only to find that there really were some holes in it. Life will never be the same. We never dreamed that we were vulnerable. What holes are we not seeing now? When and where will the next strike be? If the devils were trying to strike terror in our hearts, it has certainly worked. Along with rage, how dare they do this to so many of our innocent people? I've heard many ramble on mindlessly, "What's going on and why aren't we bombing someone?" What an embarrassment and outrage that some unknown face should bring us to our bleeding knees like this! But the shadowy face wanted the rage, too, along with the terror. Disunion, disruption, distrust of our neighbors, fear and anger. That is why, when I soaked in the soft smell of those candles that evening, I felt comfort. Brothers and sisters of all nationalities came together, voluntarily, to share their grief and sympathies and forget their rage and their hate. Each candle was a light of hope in our future and in our united humanity. For one minute, on one small campus, terror's intentions were thwarted and love came out true. There is indeed hope. As I go forward into the many tomorrows to come, it would be easy to forget this evening. Easy to just slide back into the laziness of misunderstanding and close-mindedness. A candle is a candle is a candle; or is it? I am determined to make it more. Life will fly by you if you let it. People will come and go, whether it is tragedy that takes them from us, or a transfer of jobs, or their calling in life. Memories are made and forgotten. It is easy to succumb to fear. But who says that life should be in charge of you? Or that we are required to let it sift through our fingers like sand through a sieve? As I recall that night in years to follow, I will see a candle and know it as love for my brother and sister. Its soft smell and dancing flame will bring me back to when, for one short minute, I was hugged into a small, grassy Quad, where terror lost the battle, love won, and hope became our everlasting standard of truth.
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