Against Gun Violence

This prayer to end gun violence calls for sane and common sense gun legislation, including a prayer for those who advocate gun control. It’s a response to the Orlando Pulse massacre. It was used in the CCAR’s ‘fast response’ resource kit for rabbis and synagogues after the massacre.

Against Gun Violence
G-d of the slain,
G-d of the murdered and the victim,
The voice of lamentation echoes across the land.
Wailing beside graves opened too soon,
Weeping beside stains of blood
From the dead and the injured
Pouring forth from bullet wounds:
The child shot,
The suicide,
The domestic assault,
The gang violence,
The mass murder,
The long night of death made easy by guns
And automatic weapons.
The long night of sorrow made easy
By reckless access to machines of slaughter.

Source of justice,
Rock of strength and truth,
You call upon us to stand
In the name of common sense and reason:
To witness on behalf of the innocent and the cut down –
The widowed, orphaned and bereaved –
To answer the scourge of senseless loss,
To advocate for gun control,
To remove military weapons from a civilian population,
To return sanity to our laws, our policies and our lives.

Bless those who dedicate themselves to gun control.
Grant them fortitude and perseverance.
May the work of their hands never falter
Nor despair deter them from their holy calling.

Bless those who are mourning the dead.
Grant them solace and comfort.
Bless those who are healing from the trauma of gun violence.
Grant them lives of health and prosperity,
Joy and peace.

Blessed are You, G-d of All Being,
Who summons us to choose life,
First, choose life,
Above all,
Choose life.

© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This prayer is written in the same style of my other political action prayers: “Against Human Trafficking,” “Against Poverty,” “Against Worker Exploitation,” “Against Tyranny” and “Against Hunger.” Here’s another prayer in response to the Pulse massacre called “For Orlando, For the USA,” as well as “Pride Wins: A Prayer after Homophobic Brutality” and “Love Wins: A Pride Prayer.” Here’s a yizkor prayer for someone killed “At the Hand of Violence.” My other mourning and yizkor prayers can be found here.

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: Twitter photo released by U.S. House Rep. Katherine Clark

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