In searching for a way to make sense out of all this, I decided to adapt a story which was written by a man named Strickland Gillilan. See if it helps.

A man had a little daughter. She was an only and much-beloved child. He lived for her. She was his whole life. One day while she was at school, a deranged man broke into the building and began shooting wildly. He then turned the gun on himself and took his own life. When the casualties were examined, the man’s little daughter was among the dead. The father was totally irreconcilable. He became a bitter recluse, shutting himself away from his many friends and refusing every activity that might restore his poise and bring him back to his normal self. He hated the world and everything about it. It was not fair that his innocent daughter, who never hurt anyone, was a victim of this senseless act. Why did it have to happen to her? What could he have done to prevent it? Who was to blame? How could he ever get even with the man who shot his daughter?

Then one night he had a dream. He was in Heaven, and was witnessing a grand pageant of all the little child angels. They were marching in an apparent endless line past the Great White Throne. Every white-robed angelic tot carried a candle. He noticed that one child’s candle was not lighted. Then he saw that the child with the dark candle was his own little girl. Rushing to her, while the pageant hesitated, he seized her in his arms, caressed her tenderly, and then asked, “How is it, darling that your candle alone is unlighted?” She answered, “Father, they often relight it, but your tears always put it out.”

Just then he awoke from his dream. The lesson was crystal clear, and its effects were immediate. From that hour on he was not a recluse, but mingled freely and cheerfully with his former friends and associates. No longer would his little darling’s candle be extinguished by his useless tears.

And so it is with us today. We will never be able to understand how anyone could take the lives of so many people at the World Trade Centre and at the US Pentagon. What would make a person deliberately murder so many unsuspecting individuals who have done nothing to hurt them? And yet, we must move on and continue our lives in a positive manner. We must not let our lives be governed by hatred and fear. It is important for the loved ones who were lost that we not lose our own lives as a result of their death. Yes, we must deal with the situation and hand out punishment which is appropriate. But what is done is done and cannot be changed.

The lesson of the dark candle is something we can apply to our own situations closer to home. While certainly not on the same scale of the events of last week, even a single, senseless death can be devastating. A car accident; a mysterious disease; a heart attack; or some other tragic event may have taken away someone you loved dearly. Make sure your tears do not put out the candle of your loved one. Honour their death in the only way you can - by continuing to live your own life with the same passion and zeal as always, in loving memory of those who have gone before us.