When a school shooting happens, there is usually one lone shooter. By contrast, the steady response to school shootings — recently given yet another boost of fervent energy by the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida — has been a chorus of many thousands, united in grief, concern, and outrage.

Today, March 14, 2018, marks the one-month anniversary of the shooting that took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and students all over the United States marched out of their schools to honor those who died. At the same time, activists have placed 7,000 empty pairs of shoes on the Capitol lawn, an impossible-to-ignore symbol of the children lost to gun violence.

Moved by the powerful voices of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students, we offer some of their words here as a prayer: not one of beseeching, but one of courage and commitment. These are young people who care passionately about the well-being and safety not only of their own community but of communities everywhere, and their words imbue us with strength.

And so we pray this news ...

In the presence of Love, Peace, and Unity, we pray:

May we continue to be instruments of change, in harmony with kindred souls.

“It’s not just high school students trying to create change. It’s multiple high school students, it’s multiple students, and it’s the nation that wants to see change.”
— Kayra Parrow

May we honor by our actions the young people and the bereaved who are speaking out.

“I think the walk-out is a way to show how strong our generation is and how much power we have, and the power of our voices as a whole.”
— Carly Novell

May we do all we can as citizens to exert pressure for gun reform.

“If you agree, register to vote. Contact your local congress-people. Give them a piece of your mind.”
— Emma Gonzalez

May our eyes be open, our hearts strong, and our solidarity with each other unbroken.

“We out of everybody understand the consequences of ignoring this kind of thing over and over again, and we’re not going to let that happen to another community.”
— Rebecca Schneid

So be it.


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