The Diocesan Dialogue
Current Issue
June 2007
University Students Gather for Healing and Remembrance
By Karen Van Winkle and Joel Nau
In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, more than 100 students gathered for an interfaith service of healing and remembrance on April 19 at the University of Utah.
The gathering was planned by the Student Interfaith Council with support from the Interfaith Campus Advisors' Council. The purpose of the event was to come together to mourn, to honor the victims, and to begin the healing process.
In the short program, speakers from various faith groups on campus offered reflections and prayers from each of their traditions. Offerings included words of welcome from Associated Students President Jacob Kirkham, a musical piece by one of the LDS Institute of Religion's choirs, a chanted passage from the Qur'an, and a Baha'i prayer.
Sasha Andersen from Lumen Episcopal/Lutheran Campus Ministry read a sermon originally delivered by Virginia Tech campus pastor Rev. Bill King. She was followed by Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish, who shared a poem she had composed in response to the tragic events. That poem appears below.
In Memoriam
He was who he was
Placed where he was;
Imprisoned in rage
He did what he did.
We cannot turn the clock back
We cannot start at the beginning
We cannot assemble data and
reasons
To make a whole story.
For a time we are simply and
silently alone
Holding pieces of broken hearts
Hearing sounds of people weeping
Seeing images from the wreckage.
MAYBE THE WHAT AND THE
WHY
WILL NEVER COME
TOGETHER.
Even so, today we must gather
Come together at our campus
home
To let our community reach theirs
To let our sorrows and confusions
touch theirs
Who are so far, and yet so near to
us
We wait with them
Knowing it will never be all over.
Still, strength, humility and peace
return,
Here and there, to all of us.
A new beginning will come.
—by Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish |
The event concluded with closing remarks from Ms. Amee Garcia of the Newman Center, followed by a final musical offering.
Participants at the service had the opportunity to sign posters offering their prayers and condolences, which will be sent to Virginia Tech as a sign of solidarity.
Also present for the event was a memorial wall with pictures and biographies of each of the victims of the shooting. The space and the sentiments expressed during the gathering served to create an atmosphere of hope at a time when all campuses feel vulnerable.
As the community came together seeking healing and strength, they embodied the central message of Rev. Bill King's sermon: "we cannot banish all the darkness, but we can, by joining together, push it back."
Karen Van Winkle is Diocesan Youth Ministry Coordinator; the Rev. Joel Nau is Chaplain, Lumen Campus Ministry
Return to current issue Table of Contents
Return to Dialogue main page » |
