There was no escaping the tragic news about the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas. No matter where you turned people were talking about it. It dominated the news cycle and social media. I’m a little embarrassed to admit, I avoided reports of the horrific attack as much as possible. I have a 7 and 10-year-old and I just couldn’t handle it emotionally.
David O. Taylor knows the feeling. He writes:
“Driving my daughter to school the morning after, I felt acutely the fragility and unpredictability of life, and I found myself becoming intensely afraid—and increasingly angry.”
Taylor rejects Christian cliches in the face of such unspeakable horror. “The Bible does not allow us to ignore its violence or to explain it away with tidy theological slogans. It asks us to face our world squarely, together, and, where needed, to yell our rage to God.”
He gives practical ways to do just that by offering 15 Prayers for a Violent World. I found these prayers cathartic and strangely beautiful. I also recommend reading this story about a pastor in Uvadle who is ministering to others even as he mourns the loss of his great-granddaughter. If anyone can use our prayers, it’s the families traumatized by this unimaginable loss.
