OPENING INVOCATION:

We have come together to invoke the Sacred through our shared humanity, and we acknowledge that grief saturates the core of that humanity. 

All grief is valid, but no grief is the same. From the cataclysmic to the mundane, from the personal to the global, from the supported to the rough initiation, grief has different needs at different moments. What works for me may not work for you. 

Grief is communal. Sometimes we may need to process grief in solitude, but even that is made possible by a community of care. Other times we have a deep need to share and be witnessed.

For the next hour, we each agree to attend to five things: ourselves, each other, the group, the world, and the shared Presence unifying it all. We do this as an act of devotion, knowing that God is manifest in all five.

We tend to ourselves by being mindful of our thoughts, feelings, triggers, and motivations and by leaning into authenticity, vulnerability, and courage. We tend to each other through attentive, compassionate, non-judgmental listening, by letting go of the desire to fix others or give unsolicited advice, and by leading with appreciation and curiosity. We tend to the group by ensuring that space is evenly shared and that everyone has an opportunity to offer their voice. We tend to the world by acknowledging we are not separate from collective sorrow, collective aid, or systemic influences associated with race, class, gender, sexuality, or ability. We tend to communal Presence by actively cultivating sacred silence and by holding our identities, roles, and ideologies lightly, so the soul can shine through.