Carry not a candle

Set your lantern down

Step into the darkness

Step onto holy ground —

The shadows fall in front

Call deep into the night

Not like cosmic guiding stars

They take away our sight —

Like sun without its rays

Black swallowing the sky

Like fish who live in caves

Born without their eyes —

The kindling of our hearts

Poised hoping for the fire

Whatever match we strike

Seems not to reach that far —

Blue void is beneath us

We sink and cannot swim

We cry out in pain for truth

We bow and turn to Him —

We bring our darkness with us

Hold it in prayerful hands

It slips between our fingers

Like blood into the sand —

The night we so constructed

Consumed us with a lie

Then came the holy whisper

“Let dying embers die” —

Carry not a candle

Walk joyful through the night

You will not fear the darkness

When you become the light.