Entertainment Monday: Prayer of the Children (Monday June 13, 2016) Reflections on Pulse LGBT Club Massacre

Prayer of the Children

by Kurt Bestor

Can you hear the prayer of the children?
On bended knee in the shadow of an unknown room.
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry,
turning heav'nward toward the light.
Crying Jesus help me to see the morning light one more day,
but if I should die before I wake, I pray my soul to take.

Can you feel the hearts of the children,
aching for home for something of their very own.
Reaching hands with nothing to hold on to,
but hope for a better day, a better day.
Crying Jesus help me to feel the love again in my own land,
but if unknown roads lead away from home,
give me loving arms, away from harm.

Can you hear the voice of the children?
Softly pleading for the silence of the shattered world.
Angry guns preach the gospel full of hate,
blood of the innocent on their hands.
Crying Jesus help me to feel the sun again on my face,
for when darkness clears I know your near, bringing peace again.
Can you hear the prayer of the children.

The terror and the hatred need to stop.  We are killing each other.  Our brothers and our sisters.  And why?  Because they have a differing opinion or lifestyle from our own.  It seems ridiculous because it is ridiculous.  Hatred is engrained in some societies because of years of persecution, whether that be over differences in our religious beliefs, the way we look or whom we love. 

 The tragedy at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando, Florida where 50 people were murdered and 50 plus more injured is endemic of America.  America has to ask itself if it wants to be known for it's ideals of Freedom and Liberty or known for it's Violence and Hatred. Even two weeks ago I spoke glowingly of the Pride I feel in my Nation for it's history and for it's ideals. This Month is Pride Month in the LGBT community.  A gay or transgender person should be able to hold their head high and live proudly and openly in today's world... in today's America.  No ifs... no buts... that IS how it should be. 

It is ironic perhaps that terrorists would choose to set their agenda or make their mark over instilling fear in others.  To me, it's obvious who is afraid when these acts of violence occur, and especially so in the terror attack at the Pulse night club where a specific group of LGBT party-goers were targeted.  The terror perpetrator is afraid.  He or She is so afraid of their world changing or not having control, not having life the way they want it, that they feel this compelling need to unleash their fears into the community at large. A person who is afraid both takes and gives up life easily and willingly because they see little or no value in their own life. They try and make every one else as afraid as they are.  What the "terrorists" don't realize though is that we are not afraid.  

A life of hate is a life of fear. They are one and the same.  For those of us who choose a life of Love, there is nothing that can be done to make us afraid, because even in death we will have lived our lives the way we wanted to live our lives.  The terrorist, the killer, is a man or woman who has fear in their heart.  People who live a life of Reaction and not a life of Action.  They react to the fear.  So we who love must act out of love.  

For those of us who choose that life of Action it is time... even past time to Act.  It is time to take the guns off our streets.  Time to take the sickness of prejudice out of our laws.  Time to be proud of those who choose to live in Love and not in Fear.  Proud of ourselves and our families. Proud of our neighbors and our friends.  Proud of our country and our World.  Proud of humanity. 

We need to change hearts full of fear into hearts full of love.  How do we do that?  Well for starters we can accept someone as a friend, whatever their religion, whatever they look like, whatever their sexual orientation.  Accepting someone else is not a prerequisite to not being yourself and losing your individuality.  We can be ourselves and still love someone who is different from us.