O God, our hearts were shat­tered
On that hor­ren­dous day;
We heard the news and ga­thered
To grieve and then to pray.
We cried to you and won­dered,
Where did the vio­lence start?
The world as we had known it
Had just been torn apart.

We heard of those who peri­shed—
Of he­roes’ sac­ri­fice.
We paused again to cher­ish
The gifts of love and life.
We wor­ried for the fu­ture;
We hugged our loved ones then.
We cried, Can peace be found here?
We can’t let terr­or win!

Some sought to an­swer ter­ror
The on­ly way they knew—
With an­ger to­ward the stran­ger
And calls for ven­geance, too.
Yet this is not your an­swer,
Nor what you would cre­ate.
May we live to­ward a fu­ture
Where love will con­quer hate.

God, give us faith and wis­dom
To be your heal­ing hands;
Give op­en minds that lis­ten
To truth from all your lands.
Give strength to work for jus­tice;
Grant love that casts out fear.
Then peace and not de­struct­ion
Will be the vic­tor here.