In the wake of tragedy, we look for meaning and find ourselves drawn to experience the wisdom of our higher self.

But how do we reach the higher self?

In Ann Arbor, one University of Michigan Graduate student, Austin Stewart, spontaneously organized a community performance of Mozart’s Requiem on Tuesday evening, June 14th. In less than 48 hours, he brought together musicians and performers of all backgrounds to honor those wounded and killed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Sponsored by The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, the public was welcome.

When I joined the audience that collected at Hill Auditorium —where over 300 individuals performed on stage — I felt connected with all those affected, directly and indirectly, by this tragedy and others like it. I wanted to believe that something good would come from being there. I hoped we would experience collective wisdom, not victimhood.

While the word “victim” was used to describe those attacked, injured or killed, the feeling behind the words of the speeches given, behind the music of the notes played, behind the emotion of the songs sang, carried us to a higher state. No one emphasized a polarizing posture. At least that’s how it felt to me.

The musicians and chorus gave an outstanding, emotionally charged performance. Two minutes of solemn silence followed and the audience absorbed the higher energy generated from joining in this event.

About a dozen clergy from different religious traditions in our community then filed forward and stood as One. Each shared a prayer or teaching or worldview. Each sent a ray of hope into the full house. All spoke from their hearts.

For those who missed the program, here’s what a few of us offered with our words. 

Lori Carey, a Lutheran pastor, expressed how our gathering around the beauty created by these musicians who touched our souls; our gathering in grief and compassion; our turning away from whatever other activities we could have engaged in, were all testimony to what unites rather than divides us. May we go forth from this night, she said, resolved to bring beauty, compassion and peace every place we go.

Kamau Ayubbi, a spiritual care provider and Imam with The University of Michigan Hospital, referred to the direct lineage of 40 teachers going back to Prophet Muhammad, all of whom rejected violence and oppression in any and all forms. He encouraged us to build bridges of understanding with all those who seem different, and to understand that collectively we belong to and are returning to the Divine. 

Ken Wilson, co-pastor of Blue Ocean Faith, remarked that no doubt many LGBTQ people will seek solace from religious communities in the aftermath of this tragedy. Yet many of these communities have and will continue to reject them. If there is no change in our religious institutions, he said, then our words here tonight will be hollow. His sentiment was met with wide applause.

I spoke last, an Interfaith Minister with an evolutionary worldview. I shared that Einstein once said, “Our problems cannot be solved by the same level of consciousness that created them.” My pulpit, I continued, is the religious school classroom; a place with the potential for developing a new level of consciousness to solve today’s problems. For this reason, my motto is Belong to the World, not just a tribe. Tonight, our consciousness rose. Tonight, Orlando belongs to the World, and the World belongs to Orlando!

Other clergy included Pastor Joe Summers, Rev. Bob Roth, Rabbi Sara Adler, Rev. Roger Meiller, and more. I hope to get the names of all those who appeared.

The program concluded with the audience rising to sing together as the musicians played Finlandia, a tone poem by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (written 1899-1900). The words accentuate the feeling of deeply loving something bigger than one’s self.

It’s worth including the lyrics below to convey the appropriateness of this piece.

This is my song, o God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is; Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine; But other hearts in other lands are beating, with hope and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine. But other lands have sunlight too, and clover, And skies are ev’rywhere as blue as mine: O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.

May truth and freedom come to every nation! May peace abound where strife has raged so long; that each may seek to love and build together, A world united, righting ev’ry wrong; A world united in its love for freedom, proclaiming peace together in one song.

WE CAME TOGETHER — as members of an emerging, interconnected, global family where an act of violence can wake us up, shake us up, unite us, and inspire us — to lovingly meet our pain with wisdom.

The organizer’s goal was “to build solidarity and strength through music and communal reflection.” I think he succeeded. Now, so must we.

Thank you, Austin, for creating an opportunity for Ann Arbor to be with Orlando.