Aging Spiritually: Lament for Lost Innocents
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Five Practices of Prayer and Lament
Once again, our lives have been shaken to the core by gun violence. On May 14, there was a mass shooting in a grocery store, the next day six older adults were shot while eating lunch in a church after worship. On May 24 there was another horrible shooting at a school. Since this year began there have been 213 mass shootings of four or more people in this country, one every 16 hours.1
Every day on average 321 people are shot in the United States.2 Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children and adolescents younger than 20.3 More than disease or car accidents. It seems that our tears don’t have a chance to dry from one tragedy before the next one occurs. We join with Jesus who lamented the hatred and violence of his time.
Voicing lament is a genuine and valid part of our relationship with a loving God. We have many biblical models of lament found in the Psalms, and throughout the Bible, when God’s people cry out to God, trusting that God hears our lament and knows our sorrows.
We lament the violence that takes the lives of innocent people. Our first action is to cry out to God, centering our hearts on the presence of God who grieves with us. Whatever your emotion or motivation, whether sad and grieving, fearful and angry, or weary and discouraged, give voice to those emotions in lament to God.
When great injustice occurs, the Bible offers us a model of response through lament, crying out our grief and sorrow to God. When our hearts are hurting, we turn to God both in prayer and lament. In this Aging Spiritually devotion you are invited to open your heart to God as you are comfortable.
Prayer for Comfort and Peace
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before Thee, near to the heart of God.
The sacred story – Jesus gives us peace
When our hearts are anxious and troubled, we are comforted by the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and we receive the peace of Christ. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples the night he was violently captured.
Scripture Reading: John 14:25-27
25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
Prayer for God’s Peace in our hearts
O God who gives us peace, once again our hearts are anxious and disturbed. Peace within our world has been disrupted by a terrible war in Ukraine, and by gun violence in our country. On the news we see photos of innocent lives taken from this world in acts of violent hatred. In empathy we deeply grieve these actions, joining with others in sorrow.
O God, In our grief and sorrow, we turn to you. Help us to open our hearts to receive your peace which is beyond our understanding. In the silence of this moment, we center our hearts on your Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who will come and grant us your peace.
Lament for Innocent Victims
The sacred story – Lamenting our grief
When we see the pain and suffering of parents who lost children or a spouse, we have empathy, feeling their pain with them, and we cry out to God at the injustice of innocent people who suffer a violent death, just as the mothers of Bethlehem cried out.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:16-18
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “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.”
Prayer for Innocent Victims
Offer to God your prayer for innocent victims of hatred, violence, and war.
Lamenting Human Violence
The sacred story – Lament the violence of racial hatred
In the past two weeks we have seen how racial hatred fed the violent shooting of Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo, New York, Taiwanese older adults in a California church, and Brown children in Uvalde, Texas. Hate speech quickly becomes hate-driven violence. The lament of Psalm 13 is the cry of marginalized people across the ages who ask God if their lives matter to others.
Scripture Reading Psalm 13:1-2
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain[a] in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Guided prayer of lament
How long, O Lord, will the daily horror continue? How long will our hearts be broken in grief and sorrow? How long will we join anguished parents who cry for their children? How long will angry, hate-filled voices lead to angry, hate-filled violence? In the silence of our hearts, we cry out to you, O Lord.
Silent prayer
For the trauma experienced by the survivors of these events and all instances of gun violence, we cry out, O Lord.
Silent prayer
For the first responders and medical teams who care for and help those survivors begin to heal in body and mind, we cry out, O Lord.
Silent prayer
For those who work to find solutions to the problems of hatred and violence, we cry out, O Lord.
Silent prayer
For those who are trapped in ideologies of hate, in lust for power, in cycles of poverty and despair, we cry out, O Lord.
Silent prayer
We lift our broken hearts and our voices to you for all who suffer pain and loss, crying out with them, O Lord.
Silent prayer
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and lead me in your way of love and peace. Amen.
Lamenting Gun Violence
The sacred story – human violence and divine non-violence
How does Jesus respond to violence? When his life and the lives of his disciples were being threatened by an armed mob, Jesus told his followers to put down their weapons. Violent weapons are a human response, but non-violence is the response Jesus calls his followers to live.
Silently pray the Scriptures
First Reading: Who are you in this story?
Second Reading: How would you respond in this situation?
Third Reading: What action is God calling you to take?
Scripture Reading Matthew 26:47-52
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 At once he came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. 51 Suddenly one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will die by the sword.
A Lament of Jesus
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind, in purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
The sacred story – Jesus laments the Temple leaders
Jesus went into the Temple and condemned the leaders, who were allies of Rome and the imperial society in Jerusalem. When they would not hear him, Jesus cried out this lament to the leaders of Jerusalem.
Scripture Reading Matthew 23:37
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Prayer for peace
Ask God for comfort and peace in your heart. Rest peacefully in God’s presence.
Greg Smith
Legacy Ministry for Older Adults