15 hours and 42 minutes of darkness.

It is the longest night of the year.

And on this, the darkest of nights, we gather to remember those who have no homes .

The majority of us will never know what it is like to not have a safe, secure place to call our own. Unfortunately, though, for far too many individuals and families here in Cumberland County and Across the Nation, homelessness is an everyday reality. The biggest tragedy is how many of those experiencing homelessness are children and the elderly.

Tonight, we light candles for the 98 households who have been identified as literally homeless in our County, as well as the countless others who are doubled up with other families,

Who are Couchsurfing

 

Who are sleeping in dismal, rundown motels.

We light candles for those who file into church basements each night, who claimed their thin rubber mats and curl up on the hard cold floors to sleep.

 

We light candles for the unaccompanied youth, living in campgrounds and sheds, existing in the shadows, while trying to navigate the world alone

 

We light candles for the veterans who  served  so bravely, and are once again sleeping in tents or Outdoors, not on a battlefield, but in our own backyard.

We Stand Here In The Dark only for a few moments, but there are so many who spend every night out in the cold, in the rain, in the night, searching for someone to shine a light for them.

We light candles.

But it is not enough to light candles.

We Stand Here, in this Square, illuminated by the twinkling holiday lights that remind us, even though the darkness is long, that the light will return. May we be that light in the lives of those experiencing homelessness, on this longest night of the year and always.

Spirit of Life

Watch over your children

Especially those with no homes to return to at the end of long and weary days.

Protect them from all harm and keep them from despair.

Open the hearts in the eyes of those of us who can be their voice

Unite our voices in a cry for justice

So that no one need ever lay down for the night on a park bench because they have no home

So that no one need ever tuck their children in the bed in the back seat of a car

So that no child need ever wonder if they will feel safe  because they have no home

So that all those who wander and all who are in need find the shelter in the peace that they seek

Remind us that we cannot fully rest securely in our homes each night until all are, at last, home.

May it be so.

Amen.