4. Oktober 2017

God of our life, whose presence sustains us in every circumstance, / As the sound of gunfire again echoes over another American city, / we seek the grounding power of your love and compassion. / As death rained down from above in the dark of night, / We pray this day for the Sun of Righteousness to arise with healing in its wings, / and rain mercy, grace and peace upon our broken people. / So many have been lost: brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends / gathered in the unity of music, scattered by evil and hatred. / We pray for solace for all who loved them. / We pray for those who have been spared and those whose lives are changed forever / that they may find healing, sustenance, and strength in the hard days to come. / We give thanks for first responders: / who ran toward gunfire, rather than away / who dropped everything to save the wounded and comfort survivors / We pray for doctors and nurses and mental health providers / who repair what has been broken / who to try to bring healing and hope / in the face of the unchecked principalities and powers of violence . / We ask for sustaining courage for those who are suffering and traumatized. / We cry, how long, O Lord? / But the same words echo back, again and again / as if the question comes to us from You— how long, how long, how long… / In the wake of an event that should be impossible to contemplate / but which has become all too common in our experience, / open our eyes, break our hearts, / and turn our hands to the movements of your Spirit, / that our anger and sorrow may unite in service to build a reign of peace, / where the lion and the lamb may dwell together, / and terror no longer holds sway over our common life. / In the name of Christ, our healer and our Light, we pray, Amen.