A Prayer for Uvalde

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Children.

Too many children.

Your children. All of them. Each one. Lord, sometimes it is too much to bear,

And yet we come to you in our grief, in our anger, In our shock, in our weeping,

To do that very thing,

To ask you to help us bear that which is unbearable.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

My heart is with the families. I can only imagine

And yet I cannot imagine.

Lord hold them gently in your strength, Carry their darkness in your light.

Spirit, breathe in those who have had the wind knocked out of them,

Who feel as though they will never breathe again.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Grief is an uncomfortable place to be.

Righteous anger can fuel transformation. Hope. Vision. A future.

But before I go there,

Here in this moment,

I sit in silence where once there was laughter and chatter and noise and joy.

I sit in stillness where once there was once wiggling and running and dancing.

I sit in a dangerous place that once felt safe.

Lord, I hold our grief before you.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Amen.