- written to my children

As you venture though this world
Of children and of men
In your life you’re soon to learn
That time and time again
The chance to make a difference
To see that right shines through
Will fall upon one person
And that person will be you

Every time it happens
It will be your choice to stay
And do the thing that should be done
Or simply turn away
But understand that choices
Do more than let you choose
They test if you’re prepared to fight
Or just afraid to lose

So keep a candle burning
Deep inside your heart
To light its darkest chambers
Where evil comes to court
Always find compassion
For the helpless and for youth
Guard against those who mistake
Their passions for the truth

Listen close to every side
And don’t ignore the fool
That everyone discounted
Before anybody knew
Always base your judgment
Upon the honest fact
Then find conviction in your heart
And be prepared to act

To stand up and remind the world
What every child knows
To find a path of reason
And point the way when those
Who harbor darkness in their hearts
Are blinded by the night
And those who seek to spread the truth
Are blinded by the light

Expect no compensation
Ask nothing in return
For doing what is right in life
Does not a profit earn
And know that lies and treachery
May cut you like a sword
But trust yourself that living strong
Will bring its own reward

nice very billy ray cyrus!
lol jk no its very original
and i cant wait to hear the
final product!

just kidding

What a really beautiful massage to give your children.
I hope their old enough to get their heads around some of it !
I find the first two verses really flow , right message right words, ideas and rhyme, half way through the third onwards I find it a little 'pushed' though the message is good.
It could also be that it starts with the universal message of the human values but then turns to point at "those who seek to spread the truth" and "those who mistake Their passions for the truth" in particular. 

The piece does turn to focus two groups of people to watch out for. It identifies the injustices of the world as coming from these two groups, and differentiates between them based on their motives. Foremost among them are "those who mistake Their passions for the truth", which are the same as "those who seek to spread the truth". Why should we be wary of those who seek to spread the truth? Because different people see different truths, and attach varying degrees of importance to them. In this respect, they can be blinded by their own truths (blinded by the light). Such people are too often driven by ideologies or or their own narrow (special) interest, and they are identifiable in their intolerance for others. To them, the ends justifies the means. We may all have been included in this group at one time or another. These are well-meaning people who are insensitive to, or lacking compassion for, the legitimate views and needs of others. Examples are religious fundamentalists and extremists of all sects, political extremists on every side, and even such seemingly innocent people as parents who are too narrowly focused on certain children's issues. We have all seen it. It is this tendency among well meaning people, the world over, that is responsible for the vast majority of human suffering. We have all heard the line, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." This is the work crew.

The other group are "those Who harbor darkness in their hearts". These are people who have given in to corruption, greed and malice. They willingly oppress or injure others for their own gain. The lines "So keep a candle burning/Deep inside your heart/To light it's darkest places/Where evil comes to court" is an admonishment to look inside yourself first and always, to make sure your own intentions are pure, and that you yourself have not become corrupted. We look at people in power and we see corruption easily. The fact is that 'Power tends to corrupt" (Lord Acton's dictum), and with the tiniest bit of power, comes incentives to act corruptly (i.e. you get a raise at work, and now make a little more money than your co-workers, and reasonably want to protect your advantage). This group also includes violent criminals and the morally bankrupt.

In summary, Kings correctly observes that the piece focuses on two groups as sources of evil. But I am trying to show here that this is not a limiting factor - these two groups include the whole of man's injustice and inhumanity to man. Also, I want to stress that while it's easy to focus on the big issues in the world, this is written to children, about the daily choices of morality and justice that we are all faced with and deal with every day, often with little thought, , and how to navigate their way to making the right one - through unbiased research and judgment, resulting in a conviction to find a solution based on reason, and to raise the voice of reason against those who blinded, whether by the light (truth) or the night (malice, ignorance etc).

Hope this helps. Feedback welcome.