I offer this weekly #LetUsPray as a way to stay anchored amidst the turmoil of the day. Paid subscribers have access to liturgical resources and sermon prompts based on the week's readings from The Revised Common Lectionary and/or The Narrative Lectionary.
Antisemitism, Islamophobia, conflating Judaism with Israel, and the rise in anti-Muslim hate speech by public leaders have led to too many deaths, grief, rage, and trauma — that will take generations to heal.
I get it, being overwhelmed by the number of issues confronting society today, but we must not become more indifferent to gun violence — the terror it causes, the grief it creates, or the retribution it generates. We must not normalize young people filled with hate, students being traumatized at school, or the growing rollcall of heroes who give up their lives protecting others. Instead, we must continue to raise our collective voices and act in ways that say there is a different way of living in a world of conflict and confrontation. We must keep working to change the political will of our public servants as well as our cultural connection to guns.
For those who continue to scream this from the mountaintops, thank you, and please don't stop.
The following prayer is one I submitted for the project, How Long, Oh Lord?: A Prayerbook Concerning Gun Violence (Code BRC for 20% off). The number of instances of hatred being lived out through gun violence can be paralyzing and overwhelming, so if you need a prayer, I hope this prayer helps...
When Hatred and Gun Violence Collide #LetUsPray
let us pray —
god of every hue and every human, gun violence, fueled by hate, is not your will.
the depth of our sorrow cannot be measured as groans of grief vibrate in our bones and the needless loss of life surpasses understanding
but what can we expect when we live in a culture that justifies hatred because of who one worships because of who one loves because of where one was born because of what one looks like because of what one does because of one’s passions because of one’s politics because of how one simply moves through the world
. . . and, god, often this hatred is sown in your holy name.
and what can we expect when guns are so deeply embedded in our culture when guns are gamified without discretion when guns are glorified as tools of power when our response to gun violence is more guns when gun profit has more power than human potential when guns are too easy to get when global siblings have shown us a different way when we have lost our ability to embody nuance, embrace sensibility, and mine wisdom. when it feels like we have thrown up our hands and given up.
god, we have lost our way.
and yet, god, you have greater expectations for us you expect us to choose a path of life over death to choose possibility over profit to choose acceptance over exclusion to choose grace over retribution to choose discernment over disregard to think to pray to act and above all to choose love over hate.
for these things we pray — amen.
For those of us who have been personally touched by gun violence, whenever these things happen, feelings and memories come flooding back. If that is you, you are seen and held by many in the same way I am sure see and hold others.
In writing liturgy, I attempt to be economical with words while addressing the events of the day in ways that help people find grounding in their faith. For readings, I refer to the Vanderbilt Revised Common Lectionary(RCL) and The Narrative Lectionary from The Working Preacher(NL). Paid Subscribers should please feel free to use any of the liturgical resources with or without attribution.
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