“Mourning the Unknowable” finds new resonance post-Covid

Written pre-pandemic, “Mourning the Unknowable” finds new resonance in a world grappling with grief, uncertainty, and how to make meaning out of devastation. 

Originally commissioned and published by the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Harvard Divinity School’s semiannual journal, “Mourning the Unknowable” follows Meghan’s attempt to reconstruct her mother. Fusing memoir, accounts of her mother’s divination practices, and literature, Meghan’s essay asks how we can come to mourn people we will never truly know.

“I knew when I started this piece that the central question was going to be ‘how do I grieve someone I loved but never really knew?’ even though I was emotionally resistant to going there,” Meghan explains. “The process of writing this piece became an exercise in answering that very question, and in doing so, beginning to create meaning for myself and hopefully for others grappling with this paradox.”

She adds, “I never imagined that 4 years later, we would be collectively facing the magnitude of loss we are today. I continue to hope that something in this reflection resonates with readers, and the grappling with these questions offers one small space to acknowledge and hold the grief, rage, and despair so many of us are feeling.”

You can read “Mourning the Unknowable” as well as current and past issues of the Harvard Divinity Bulletin for free online. 

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