“We have gathered here tonight as a community of hope. This is a time when questions roll down like raging rivers and answers like a trickling stream. We can hear the words echo from the mountain tops, ‘Why? How? What next?’ And they pierce into the depths of our hearts. Yet, the possibility of grasping the reasons behind yesterday’s heartbreak is as fleeting as a shooting star. During times like this, there are neither words nor actions that can alleviate all of the pain, frustration and yes, even the fear that has penetrated our seemingly ordinary lives. It is in times like this, when we must struggle to be reminded of the inherent value and goodness of humankind, the value and goodness in each of us. We must be reminded that each one of us is a Light of hope in the shadows of despair and tonight, we need you, we need YOU! We need each other, we need your Light, we need hope. Perhaps you are thinking right now, I don’t feel like I’m a Light of hope, I can barely muster up a flicker of Light to give…but even so…bear in mind that no amount of darkness can overcome even the smallest glimmer of Light, but the smallest glimmer of Light is able to absolutely overcome the blindness of despair and that’s why we are here tonight. We are the evidence of hope in this world. We are the evidence that hope outdistances bullets. We are the evidence that hope outclasses revenge. We are the evidence that hope rises above the bleakest of situations. You are the Light of hope, shine, shine..

           We never know who our Light of hope will touch or when it will happen, that is why we must allow the Light of hope to be ignited through our thoughts, through our words, through our actions. Somebody somewhere is looking for hope and you are the Light they’ve been searching for. It is you, it is all of us, regardless of who we are or where we come from, Hope is no respecter of persons, it will affix itself to whoever is willing. There is room for ALL people, every single one of us at the table of Hope. And make no mistake, when we all gather at the table of hope, when we ALL unite at the table of hope, we can turn things around. Claim it, live it, achieve it, shine. You are our Light of hope. Amen."