Each of the five candles used in tonight's ceremony symbolizes a particular characteristic of a National Honor Society member, namely, Scholarship, Leadership, Character, and Service. The gold candle portrays the lustre of the riches of scholoarship. It is significant that the symbol of worldly wealth should be chosen to represent this ideal since scholars are not just born but are the product of diligent effort and much refinement. Even as far back in history as …showed first 75 words of 347 total…

…showed last 75 words of 347 total…candle is allowed to flicker and die, so diminishes and passes our opportunity for a truely humane society. But does its flame merely symbolize truth and knowledge? Does it not also represent man's greatest gift? That one light which led him through the dardk ages, through wars and depressions, through personal suffering? Yes, the true significance of the white candle, even of this entire ceremony itself, lies in the existence of the light of hope.