Let us wail in repentance
and quickly;
Let us submit to sackcloth
and appeal to God;
Let us not dry our tears
but rather confess
that we have cried for Boston,
not Bangalore or Aleppo;
we have mourned the deaths of white children
but kept silent while brown & black children
are buried, no American flags lowered,
no commemorative days named.
We have rolled in ashes in the name of peace
but accepted the blood on our hands at Gitmo.
While the world finds God
in the helpers,
let us wrestle for God
among enemies
— that is, within ourselves —
where love exists in horrible fragmentation.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, let there
be mercy.
Rachael, your prayer is so powerful, poignant, a truth I lament along with you. Thank you for speaking our communal darkness into the light that we may see ourselves more clearly, ache for humanity more wholly, take action more specifically toward healing our fragmentation.
Thanks, Tammy.
Thank you for these bold, prophetic words of lament, Rachel.