How shall we pray in such moments?

How shall we pray in such moments?

God whose heart 

is as shattered as ours,

please do it once again.

out of the chaos which

swirls around us, create 

those living waters into which

we may pour our tears, watching

them mingle to become pools

of gentleness and love from which

we may drink to make it through

the coming hours and days.

send the sun to light the way

out of the shadows of stunned

grief, anger, and loss.

 

how shall we pray in such moments? 

 

Word who is as speechless

as we are in these moments,

offer us that simple prayer

which sustained you and so many

who have gone before us,

‘do not be afraid.’

as difficult as it may be

for you to continue to utter 

and for us to hear and believe,

whisper to us that hate will not win,

that fear will not control us,

that death’s power is but an illusion.

 

how shall we pray in such moments? 

 

Spirit whose breath has been knocked

out of you by this punch to your soul

as well as to all of us, breathe.

breathe peace into all the fractured

hopes and homes in Texas and

so many other places.

breathe hope into all who wonder

how we can continue to go on

seeking to find another way.

breathe compassion

into all those hearts hardened

by indifference to such horrors.

 

how shall we pray in such moments? 

 

God in Community, Holy in One,

continue to create,

continue to speak,

continue to breathe

for us, on us, through us, for us

until we can do it for others.  Amen.

 

© 2022 Thom M. Shuman