Lord Jesus,
On this day that we mourn
the loss of so many whom you love,
it is tempting to pray
that you would return
and take us from this world.
Tempting, because it shifts
the burden to you,
leaving nothing for us
but escape, evasion, and excuse.
Yet you are not the God who excuses,
but the God who redeems;
not the God of escape,
but the God of the cross.
You are not a passive God,
and neither should we
be a passive people.
So we pray,
not because it is
the only thing we can do,
but because it is
the first thing.
For what should follow,
give us the wisdom to know it;
grant us the courage to do it.
Amen