(c) JMS
- Begin recording.
Today is my first night on Minbar, my - our new home.
Londo‘s visit got me thinking about the day my child comes of age, how on earth that‘s twenty-one. If Lorien‘s prediction holds I only have nineteen years left, I won‘t be there to see you come into your own, whoever you are, whoever you will be, not that either of those things matter because sight unseen, I know that I will love you, because you are my child, and the child of the woman that I love more than life itself. I will give you that love as best as I can for as long as I‘m here, but a day like this, your twenty-first birthday, requires something more. So, I give you what little wisdom I have:
Delenn is the greatest ally you will ever have, her depths of courage and compassion are unmatched in my experience. Look to her for wisdom and fire in equal measure, and if you ever have any doubt talk to her. She will never judge you, she will only love you.
From time to time you will make mistakes, they‘re inevitable, sometimes those mistakes will be huge, what matters is that you learn from them, there‘s nothing wrong with falling down as long as you end up just two inches taller when you pick yourself up off the floor.
At times you may end up far from home, you may not be sure of where you belong any more, but home is always there, because home is not a place, it‘s wherever your passion takes you.
As you continue on your path you will lose some friends and gain new ones. The process is painful but often necessary. They will change and you will change because, life is change. From time to time they must find their own way and that way may not be yours. Enjoy them for what they are and remember them for what they were.
There‘s not much left, except, I believe, I really do believe that sooner or later, no matter what happens things do work out. Oh we have hard times, we suffer, we lose loved ones. The road is never easy, it was never meant to be easy, but in the long run, if you stay true to what you believe, things do work out.
Always be willing to fight for what you believe in, it doesn‘t matter if a thousand people agree with you or one person agrees with you, it doesn‘t matter if you stand completely alone, fight for what you believe, which brings me to the first piece of advice my dad ever gave to me and now I‘m giving it to you: Never -
-Never start a fight, but always finish it.
-Always finish it.
-I have a piece of advice for you, get some sleep.
-I think I‘ll do just that, it‘s been a long day, I might even sleep in tomorrow.
-Hmm, good idea
-Have I told you today how much I love you?
-Yes, but you may continue to repeat it for as long as you like.
-Oh, I plan to, every day that I can.
The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.
The language is not Narn or Human or Centauri or Gaim or Minbari.
It speaks in the language of hope. It speaks in the language of trust.
It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion.
It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.
But always it is the same voice.
It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us.
And the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born.
It is the small, still voice that says we are One.
No matter the blood, no matter the skin,
No matter the world, no matter the star,
We are One.
No matter the pain, no matter the darkness,
No matter the loss, no matter the fear.
We are One.
Here, gathered together in common cause
We agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule:
That we must be kind to one another.
Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us,
And each voice lost diminishes us.
We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation,
The fire that will light the way to a better future.
We are One.
What does the candle represent?
Life.
Whose life?
All life, every life.
We're all born as molecules,
In the hearts of a billion stars.
Molecules that do not understand politics,
and policies, and differences.
Over a billion years we foolish molecules
forget who we are and where we came from,
in desperate acts of ego we give ourselves names,
fight over lines on maps,
and pretend that our light is better than every one else's.
The flame reminds us of the piece
of those stars that lives on inside us,
a spark that tells us: you should know better.
The flame also reminds us that life is precious,
as each flame is unique.
When it goes out, it's gone forever,
And there will never be another quite like it.
So many candles will go out tonight,
I wonder some days if we can see anything at all.