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This article was written by Nic Cable and originally posted in the DePaulia, DePaul University’s student newspaper. Nic is a senior pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies.

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Students approached the center of the Quad around 8 p.m on Tuesday, March 15. They were handed an unlit candle from a smiling volunteer. The cold, March wind blanketed the students as they stood huddled in groups of three or four. Sixty students came out in the midst of final exams and papers, in order to stand in solidarity with all those who were affected by the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

What was originally an organized vigil by UNICEF DePaul soon became an interfaith vigil with participants from numerous student groups on campus. Within just a few days of the terrible events, a response was organized and executed with love and compassion leading the way.

Faith was central to this event. It may not have been explicitly present in the beginning of the planning process, but the concepts of community healing and shared remembrance of sorrow felt around the world are inherently spiritual and religious in nature. We gathered as Christians and Jews, Buddhists and Atheists, and countless others because we felt our presence at this vigil was not only “the right thing to do,” but perhaps also spiritually obligatory.

Around the world, people of all backgrounds are beginning to realize our common humanity as a single human family. Like in the death or injury of a loved one, more and more people are beginning to respond with authentic sympathy and real proactive compassion and action to many local and global issues (i.e. protests for justice in Libya, union rights for U.S. workers, etc.).

The interfaith movement is assisting this great awakening to global citizenry. When Michael Evers, another interfaith leader at DePaul, and I heard about the vigil being planned, we knew it was critical for us to help give language to the complex feelings both students at DePaul University and people around the world were grappling with in their hearts.

We wrote prayers from our respective faith traditions (Michael is Jewish, and I am Unitarian Universalist), reflecting upon the way we each have been taught to respond to difficult times in our lives. Our hope was that as we shared our words of comfort, people would be able to tap into that place within themselves that gives room for questioning, reflecting, meditating and praying about both this terrible tragedy and the countless mysteries and realities we experience every day.

The interfaith movement is moving in many directions at the same time: social action, advocacy, fundraising and theological exchange (i.e. study groups, panel discussions, etc.).

This is a good thing. It is important to show the diverse outlets through which interfaith work can manifest and help heal the world.

However, the interfaith movement must also not fail to realize the simple yet powerful act of coming together in times of great pain and tragedy to stand up for our shared values of equality, justice, peace and well-being for all life in this world.

This is truly an act of faith. It is an acclamation of what it means to be human and a member of one human family. We are most definitely a diverse people, but we must continue to light our candles of warmth and solidarity.