Here are my thoughts on the issue of Prayers for Mass Shooting Victims:
It's not that prayers aren't worth praying. It's that they're not ENOUGH. By all means, pray--pray for the strength to hold our government accountable for policies that don't work, pray for the wisdom to make positive change, pray for the courage to reach out to those who might be hurting so much that they lash out at those around them. And then DO SOMETHING.
In the Hebrew Bible, when God reached down and delivered the Israelites from oppression and danger, they were grateful and things were good again...for all of 5 minutes. And then they messed up again--deus ex machina is not a permanent solution, not when humans still have free will. I don't claim to speak for God, but maybe God has decided that we need to make change for ourselves in order for it to stick, for us to commit to it. So let's do it.
By all means, keep praying to God. Tell God about your hopes and dreams for the world, confide your despair and hopelessness, express your fear and hesitations. And then trust God enough to jump into the fray and make an actual difference.
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