Considering yesterday’s horrific school shooting yesterday in Uvalde, Texas where 19 children and 2 adults were murdered, I yield my column this week to a prayer written by a member of the Iona Community in Scotland.
how shall we pray in such moments?
By Thom M. Shuman
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.
The Iona Community is an international, ecumenical Christian movement working for justice and peace, the rebuilding of community and the renewal of worship.
The Community was founded in Glasgow in 1938 by Rev. George MacLeod. A visionary and a social reformer, MacLeod was driven by a belief that faith is grounded in action. In rebuilding the ruined accommodation at Iona Abbey, trainee ministers and unemployed workers lived, worked and worshipped together.
The community is now about 280 Members and more than 2,000 Associate Members, Young Adults and Friends across the world. We remain true to that founding vision – sharing common work and community as we pursue justice and peace, in Scotland and beyond.
To learn more about the Iona Community: https://iona.org.uk