Help Us Be Better (Prayer in Response to the Mass Shooting in Las Vegas)

Sacred Heart of Jesus,

Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Quan Yin, 

Lord Krishna,

Angels of grace and mercy...

We are all so tired.

We are tired of being angry.

We are tired of being afraid.

We are tired of feeling helpless.

We are tired of the cult of greed.

We are tired people being targeted for who they are.

We are tired of fighting.

We are tired of having our health care, our education, our wages, our relationships, our dignity being constantly threatened.

We are tired of mad men with WMDs acting as if human lives were pieces on a chess board. 

We are certainly tired of people by the dozens being mowed down in our streets, in our schools, in our cinemas and hotels. 

We are tired of being tired. 

We made and/or allowed this mess. It’s probably up to us to fix it. But to do that, we’ll need more hope, more compassion, more courage, more resilience, more wisdom, more commitment to higher, better ways...that’s where you come in, symbols of compassion, faces of love...

We dare not ask you to magically repair what we are unwilling to address, but perhaps you can inspire us, encourage us, whisper words of sanity, of healing, of determination to our hearts; somehow, in some way, maybe you will help us do what we have been unwilling to do so far. Help us be better. Inspire us to do better. And when we finally get our shit together, then add your blessings to our efforts. 

We’re tired. But we must do something about this chaos. So cheer us on if and when we collectively decide that we are better than this, that we deserve better than this, that we will no longer settle for this...this chaos, this pain, this madness. 

Help us help ourselves.

Help us help one another. 

Help us get motivated to mend what is broken, to nurture what is weak, to dream and work and move toward better days. 

Help us become the miracle that we need.

Amen. (dw)