[Editors' note: Below is a hymn written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette lamenting gun violence.]
God, We Have Heard It
(HERZLIEBSTER JESU 11.11.11.5)
God, we have heard it, sounding in the silence:
News of the children lost to this world's violence.
Children of promise! Then without a warning,
Loved ones are mourning.
Jesus, you came to bear our human sorrow;
You came to give us hope for each tomorrow.
You are our life, Lord God's own love revealing.
We need your healing!
Heal us from giving weapons any glory;
Help us, O Prince of Peace, to hear your story;
Help us resist the evil all around here;
May love abound here!
By your own Spirit, give your church a clear voice;
In this world's violence, help us make a new choice.
Help us to witness to the joy your peace brings,
Until your world sings!
Tune: HERZLIEBSTER JESU 11.11.11.5 by Johann Cruger, 1640 ("Ah, Holy Jesus").
Text: Copyright © 1999 Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved. Copied from Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (Geneva Press, 2000). Email: bcgillette@comcast.net
Hymn Use Permission: Churches that support Sojourners have permission to use these hymns.
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is the author of Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor (Discipleship Resources/Upper Room Books, 2009) and Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship (Geneva Press, 2000) and the co-pastor of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. Sojourners' past postings by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette includes hymns for economic justice, Matthew 25/disaster relief, immigration, the Gulf oil spill, and war in Iraq. A complete list of the 160+ hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, many with peace and justice themes, can be found www.carolynshymns.com.
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