Lighting the path to the future.... 
"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own." ~ Ben Sweetland
I remember being in New Year's Eve services where the congregation took small white candles held in crude paper holders to catch the hot wax drippings and formed a large chain around the sanctuary. Near midnight the organ would start to play an old hymn and we would begin to sing while the leaders in front began to light their candles. Each person received the flame and passed it on around until all were basking in the golden light. Voices raised together to ring in the New Year.
I've seen candlelight gatherings in remembrance of loved ones lost, vastly different from the joy of a new year and yet it seems even more appropriate. Sadness can become oppressive and all light seems gone from life..but the lit candle, even if only one or two, brings light back. The light dispels the darkness just enough to let us see and process our memories and remember with joy those that have left us.
This particular gathering is a tradition at William and Mary. The night before graduation the Seniors gather for humorous speeches, serious speeches, songs and a general good time... with snacks of course. They gather in front of the Wren building in cap and gown.... at the very end, the candles carried by each graduate are lit... from one to another.. they are lifted high and in one voice they sing the Alma Mater. These lights are hopeful, lights to show the way to the future as well as to remember their time spent here. I've wondered which tradition my daughter loved best at William and Mary... perhaps she'll tell me sometime. I thought this was lovely and was thrilled to have been there.
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Thursday Challenge
....for a castle in the clouds. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton "Every time a student walks past a really urgent, expressive piece of architecture that belongs to his college, it can help reassure him that he does have that mind, does have that soul." ~ Louis Kahn
In the new dorm complex, Jamestown North and South, colonial architecture comes face to face with that of the modern era. It sounds incompatible, but it works. Sleek rounded walls mix with arches and large off angled windows pair up with rows of small classical dormer windows. Inside, each dorm room is different, some have floor to ceiling windows in their outer concave wall and interesting angles are are everywhere. Jamestown dorms are unique and modern, yet reflect the colonial spirit, right down to the cane back rocking chairs that line the long arched and columned porch. I wonder if there should be a new name for this blending?
Submission for Thursday Challenge topic "architecture". (end of post)
Dorm entrance and passageway.
(Click picture for larger view) "Every exit is an entrance to somewhere else." ~ Tom Stoppard
I love to walk the campus at William and Mary; the history is palpable. Thomas Jefferson walked here, so too did George Washington and many others. This is an arched passageway between two dorms with the door to one at the far end. Several of the older dorms are joined in this manner; beautiful and practical at the same time... who wants to walk in the rain?
By the way, Nyssa was again selected to be a residence assistant for the next school year. While she won't be in the same dorm, she'll still be in the new dorm complex. Very, very exciting! Senior year! I still can't quite believe it; it seems like I took her to kindergarten for the first time, just yesterday! In one more year, she will make that long walk through the Wren building, exiting through the arched doorway and symbolically, into the wide world of life; her exit marking another entrance.
Submission for Thursday Challenge topic "entrance". (end of post)
