God, Our Nation Feels the Loss

                                                             Prayer Vigil, Uvalde, Texas

 Many have decried the sanctimonious and hypocritical "thoughts and prayers" of those who shed their crocodile tears for the victims of a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, while doing nothing to end the gun carnage.

 At the same time, communities of faith have responded with heartfelt sorrow and, yes, prayers. Today Christians congregations everywhere will pray for those who have suffered such terrible loss and for change in a country which seems to have become inured to violence by a false notion of personal freedom.

Here is a hymn written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette which is really a prayer set to an older tune: 

God, Our Nation Feels the Loss PILOT 7.7.7.7.7 (“Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me”)

God, our nation feels the loss
as our children pay the cost
for the violence we accept,
for the silence we have kept.
Rachel weeps for children gone;
God of love, this can’t go on!

Jesus, Lord, we hear you say,
“Don’t turn little ones away!”
May we build a kinder land
where our children understand:
Every child here matters more
than the guns we clamor for.

Holy Spirit, wind and flame,
send us out in Jesus’ name.
May we shout and say, “Enough!”
May we build a world of love —
till the sounds of weapons cease,
till our young can grow in peace.

Tune: John Edgar Gould, 1871. Text: Copyright © 2022 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved. Permission is given for free use of this hymn for churches and ecumenical services.

Author’s Note: See the reference to the Slaughter of the Innocents: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more” (Matthew 2:18). This hymn was written in remembrance of the beloved children of God who died in the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Many of us, as individuals, do not accept violence, keep silence, or clamor for guns. Yet, as a nation, we do these things, and as a nation, we need to repent; we need to turn around and live a different way. All of us are called to do more than sing and pray; please work for gun safety laws in your community and state.

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is the author of over 400 hymns that have been sung by thousands of congregations around the world, and are found in 20 books and thousands of websites, including www.carolynshymns.com.