As cities and countries around the world mourn the recent violence in Paris and Beirut, Wake Forest University held its own vigil Monday to reflect on the violence – and on healing.
At the sunny noon gathering near the university's Wait Chapel, there were no songs. No locking of arms. No grand gestures.
Instead, there were a few dozen people, a few words of mourning, and a silent walk around the quad.
It took about six minutes to make the lap; six minutes of reflection on both grief and survival.
On this walk, one man quietly pushed forward with the French flag wrapped around him: Quentin Pruvot a WFU exchange student from the south of France.
Pruvot says his friends and family are safe. But he says the violence in Paris is personal.
“As a French citizen, this is painful. Because when you touch my people, you touch me,” Pruvot said.
That interconnectedness – not just among countrymen, but across borders – is exactly why Wake Forest Chaplain Tim Auman says events like this can help.
At the very least, he says, they send the message that there are people of goodwill in the world who will stand together.
“We feel safer when we're together. We're better, frankly, when we're together with other people,” Auman said. “So I think that's the reason walking together – if even for just a few minutes – is good for our souls.”
At the end of the walk, as his fellow students tied colored ribbons around a peace pole opposite the chapel, Quentin Pruvot agreed. In dark times, he says, there's solace in community.
“I think in these moments of tragedy, the only way to release the pain is to be in a movement of solidarity, and to be together, because we are facing the same threat,” Pruvot said.
What comes of that threat will be the subject of discussion in the months to come.
But for today, a peaceful walk – a march forward – may help the healing begin.