Gracious God, your children are at war. Will it never cease?
So much hate;
so many deep wounds, old and new;
so much suffering and grief.
Let me sit with you in the dirt
as you sit with those wracked with pain.
Surely your tears mingle with theirs.
Send the water of life
to quench these fires
and in their place
light a new fire of love and hope.
We are yours
all of us -
we just don't seem to know it.
from a hymn for the Feast of the Holy Innocents
Still rage the fires of hate today
and innocents the price must pay
while aching hearts in every land
cry out, "We cannot understand!"
- Rosamond E Herklots
Hymn #246 v.3, The Hymnal 1982
