About Mourning Into Unity

Mourning Into Unity draws on two key areas of expertise: health professionals with decades of experience in reducing social violence and faith leaders who know the catalyzing, healing power of collective mourning. The Mourning Project vigils are designed with these experts’ input. They know that bringing people together to grieve at this precise time of loss and darkness is exactly what is needed.

To paraphrase Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann: Things are not right but they could be. God must bring forth justice so that we are not lost. Faith cries to God for swift action. Join the national time of lament. Together let us cry for the justice and wellbeing God intends in our world.

In the spaces of our mourning as a nation lies the nexus of our wholeness, oneness and health.

Collective grieving also serves as an antidote to the rising risk of violence we are seeing across America. Renowned epidemiologist Dr. Gary Slutkin, of Cure Violence Global warns of the increasing risk of social breakdown currently facing America. ‘We need to take a pause - to cool down, take a higher perspective, reverse these trends - and heal. And prevent violence.’ Dr. Slutkin cautions many indicators predict serious violence in the U.S., including declines in people’s health, income and status, and wide social divisions. ‘These factors breed violence just as dirty water breeds disease.’

Mourning Into Unity interfaith vigils will be held at houses of worship across America on Oct 12 & 19. The goal is to come together to mourn the 200,000+ dead, and all the other losses of the unconstrained pandemic: unsafe schools, unsafe workplaces, unemployment. By gathering, we reclaim our unity and commitment to peaceful elections, and defuse the rising risk of violence.

Our peaceful, candlelight vigils are led by faith and healthcare leaders. They are held outdoors with mandatory social distancing and masks. Others may join safely from their car parked at their house of faith. Still others may join online using Let’s ReImagine’s digital platform.

Participants can register to attend their community’s vigil or one in another part of the country. After the vigil concludes, participants can join guided online discussion groups on the Let’s Reimagine site. The various channels for Mourning Into Unity participation enable people to engage in the way they feel most appropriate to their situation.

Mourning Into Unity’s signature is the color purple, a traditional sign of mourning and the composite of red and blue. Mourning Into Unity is providing 50 purple masks, banners and to each of the first 20 participating locations. Regardless of which site you’ll be joining, please consider wearing purple, lighting a purple candle, using a purple face mask or if by automobile, decorating your car with lights (purple or otherwise).

Healing our nation begins with mourning. Unity follows. United We Make America Whole.