Bishop Deon Johnson offers this statement and prayer following a mass shooting that took the lives of 10 people in Buffalo, NY, on May 14, 2022:
We long for the day when the ancient vision of the prophet Isaiah, when weapons of destruction are transformed into it plough shears and pruning hooks, and we will study violence and war no more (Isaiah 2:4). We long for the day when the evils of white supremacy and the sin of racism are scourged from our nation. We long for the day when mother and brothers, sisters and aunts, uncles and fathers, cousins and siblings are not named among the innocent dead. We long for and dream of the dawning of the day of peace.
But we are not there yet. Buffalo, New York, and other places of mass gun violence are a stark reminder that we have long way to realize the ancient prophetic vision.
In the meantime our hearts break with the people of Buffalo, especially the African-American families and community shattered by the twin evils of racism and gun violence. Pray for our political leaders who lack the courage and the will to enact meaningful and life-saving legislation, beyond thoughts and prayers.
Let us commit ourselves to stand with and pray for the families of the victims and all those who mourn loved ones lost to gun violence. Pray that we may be instruments of God’s peace and that in our own day we see the dawning of a new day.
Let us pray:
Eternal Giver of Life,
Remind us that a single water drop has the power to shape even the hardest stone.
Remind us that a single act of hope has the power to inspire a world to be transformed.
Remind us that even a single light has the power to dispel the longest shadow.
When our hearts break, when lives are lost,
When violence threatens to overcome,
When division and disunity looms large,
Call us to be drops of water, acts of hope, lights of love; in your name we make our prayer.
Amen and Amen.