Today we stand together to express our unity and our commitment. We stand as one people against the violence that has touched every corner of every part of our country. And we commit ourselves to journey on the path toward a more perfect peace—peace in our hearts, in all of our homes, our towns and our cities—to a place where the sound of gunfire is stilled and the laughter of children fills the air.
– A Moral Call: People of Faith Confronting the Tragedy of Gun Violence, First Unitarian Universalist Society
We mourn with those who have suffered great and disastrous loss. All our hearts have been seared by the sudden and sense-less taking of innocent lives. We pray for healing and for the strength to serve and encourage one another in hope and faith.
– President George W. Bush, National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims Of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, White House Proclamation Archives
We raise our prayers in remembrance of the victims of violence, both those who have been injured and those who have been killed in cities and towns across our country. We hold their memories dear. We treasure those lives permanently altered through injury or those taken in senseless acts of violence and we pray that they might find rest and peace. May their lives continue to make a difference in our world.
– Adapted from Moral Call: A Vermont Interfaith Prayer and Remembrance and Bishops Against Gun Violence
