We Share in Common (2016)

Lord, I don’t understand,
      why are we crying out to you?

“Mass shootings are so frequent now,
      this one worse than the last.
Soon we will not even notice,
      they will become common.”

Lord, what surprises you more:
      that we cry out to you now,
      or that we cannot see?

Our heroes and villains commonly
      let the bullets fly in our movies,
      and leave victims bleeding.

Police and criminals commonly
      leave no one alive in video games,
      and we win when everyone is dead.

Good guys and bad guys commonly
      fight with machine guns on TV,
      and we laugh while people die.

Lord, please forgive our blindness,
      our inability to see or claim
      the culture we have created:
a life overwhelmed by violence,
      depicted with realistic gore
      all for our entertainment.

Please save us from ourselves,
      and from our enemies
      who seek our harm.

Save us in the name of your son,
      the Prince of Peace.
      Amen

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