I am poured out like water;
my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted in my breast…
–Psalm 22
Spirit of Life, Infinite Love,
You in whom we live and move
and have our being:
How do such things happen?
How is it that children
can be shot in their schools?
How can we live with it?
The pain is so great that it seems
we might not.
Help us grieve in the way
humans need to grieve:
with wailing and sobbing
and tearing of hair and clothing.
Help us grieve.
And then help us rise up.
Help us rise up in grief and outrage.
Help us know in our bones
that we will NOT live with this.
Give us the courage to cry out,
“Enough! No more of this! Enough!
We will not stand helplessly by while children
are killed in their schools!
Or in their homes, or on their streets,
or anywhere our love can reach!”
Help us use all of our strength
and all of our skill
to make this world safe
for children everywhere.
May it be so. Blessed be. All our relations. Ashe. Amen.