Kindle the Light Divine: The Story Behind Celestial Hymn 2

Step into a Celestial service and three short hymns set the tone before anything else. In the English-Yoruba hymnbook shared online by Celestial Weekly, Hymn 1 is the processional hymn, "Jerih moh Yah mah", with the English line that the host of angels praise God with joyful songs in heaven. Hymn 3 is sung while kneeling: "Oh come unto the Lord."

Between them sits Hymn 2, "Yah rah Sarah", which that book titles the hymn for lighting the candle. Its English words are simple: "Kindle the light Divine from heaven above." A choir arrangement shared on Free-Scores describes it as the call to kindle the candlelight at the altar, and links it to God saying "Let there be light" in Genesis 1:3. That link is the arranger's reading, but a lovely one.

Light comes back in Hymn 10, which calls Christ the everlasting light and asks Him to kindle His light in our midst, so that we may be free from all sins.

Three hymns, a handful of lines, and a whole congregation is gathered, lit and kneeling.

Over to you:
- Which of the opening hymns means the most to you, and why?
- Do you remember the first time you heard Hymn 2 sung, and where you were?

Sources: Celestial Weekly, CCC Hymns (English and Yoruba); Free-Scores, "Yah Rah Sarah (CCC Hymn 2)"; KJV, Genesis 1:3.
Photo: CCC choir at the Seme pilgrimage, December 2013, by Live.philips / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)