This next Friday on December 6th the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice will mark the year anniversary of their weekly Peace Vigil. Started on a cold evening with a surprising 17 people, the group grew to a steady 25. On September 11th of this year over 120 folks came out, since then an average of fifty people have been out weekly despite the cold. DeKalb has a population of 30,000 and percentage wise, I believe this places us above Chicago! ; )
The weekly vigilers come from a variety of backgrounds. DeKalb is home to Northern Illinois University causing a definite presence from employees and faculty as well as student members of Northern Coalition for Peace and Justice. There has also been a good presence from ministers of local churches who have given closing words at the end. While we have had a woman rabbi, a person of Muslim faith is being sought.
The mood of the vigil has been inclusive to all not so religious as well. Athiests and agnostics come regularly and forgive me now for even making a point of it.
The question of how long the vigil will continue has never been asked. This seems to be a certain beauty of it in that those who come regular have realized what the score is. Hopefully the day we stop feeling the need to vigil will come sooner than we think.