It happened again.
Many are dead.
Families are devastated and hearts broken
And a nation is traumatized
Thoughts and prayers are not enough.
A victim’s heroism is not enough.
National mourning and evening vigils are not enough.
We need to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable.
We need to reduce the number and the power
of the guns that are publicly held.
We need to teach people how to resolve conflicts without weapons.
And even all this will not be enough when
A man with a stick and a stone is still very dangerous.
All this is still not enough
Because anger and ill will continue to live in us.
Hatred and random violence threatens neighborhoods.
Governments still oppress their citizens who both
turn to guns to solve their conflicts.
Nations still turn against nations and many suffer and die.
The one thing we can do today
is witness the power to harm within ourselves
And dedicate ourselves to learning to make peace
and then practice making peace with our neighbor.
Peace must begin with each one of us.
May growing our capacity for peace
be our commitment this morning.
(c) Sam Trumbore (2018)