Almighty Gun, We Worship You

Almighty Gun, we worship you.
It is in you we place our trust and hope for our security.
Where fifty-eight or more lie dead,
We pass legislation for more of your presence.
We hope you will protect us from our fears,
Our fear of the "Other," the immigrant, the stranger, the colored ones.
We fear our lives might be taken by those marketing terror.
All the while, we are the ones in terror.
We are the ones who instill, promote, and extend our own terror.
We live in fear.
We pack heat to make us feel stronger, more virulent, more protected.
We return to the world of make-believe, in which we are the heroes standing up to the enemies all around us.
We pray you will provide the energy and the aim we need.
We pray you will protect us from our fears of unknown enemies.
Then one of us takes a last stand, firing rounds from automatic weapons.
"No, the guns are not to blame!"
If only there were more gun worshippers present to stop the hail of lead!
If only there were one more gun to halt the action of that other gun.

 Oh, Mighty Weapon! Why do you fail us time and again?
Why do you not come to the rescue of the children at school time?
Why do you not protect the concert goers?
Why does your presence not stem the tide of blood which flows?
We purchase more of you, yearning for peace and tranquility.
We hail our sacred rights to caress your handgrips and pull your trigger.
We laud the power contained within the metal jackets you employ.
We pray you will enable us to control the vagaries and inconsistencies of life.
We plead that you might grant us eternal security and rest at night.
We place our confidence in you.
Then preschoolers pull your triggers, killing and maiming.
We know it is not your fault.
You never intended such tragedies.
You were just designed that way.
You were never meant to be regulated, yet people continue to misuse you.
They use you to kill.
They use you to maim.
They use you to intimidate, rob, and coerce others to their will.

 How long, Oh Mighty Artillery, how long until you prove your worth?
How long will You allow Yourself to be so misused for pain and suffering?
We have multiplied Your presence in our homes, in our cars, and on our persons.
We have established clubs to worship and honor you.
Be near to us, we pray.
Extinguish the gleam of death and fear in which we live and move.
Grant us peace everlasting, the peace we so desperately crave.
Grant that we might be victorious over our enemies who would wrest you from our grip.
You are benevolent and kind.
You are an instrument of peace.
You embody all that is good, all that sustains life.
Help us to teach this world to honor you as we do.
Lead us into life and peace and health,
That we might honor you all of our days.

 Great Firepower of Heaven, come to us and fulfill your peace, the peace that only You can give!
Grant us release from our fears and doubts.
Grant us succor in our day of calamity.
May our aim be ever sure.
May our vigilance ever be directed by Your might.
May our efforts to defend our rights always find victory.
May all those who work tirelessly to fill the land with Your influence find wealth.
May the profits you engender multiply more every day until all admire You.
May Your name be ever great and those who worship with us ever increase.
May the day of Your adoration live long in the land you help us protect.
May our fears find targets for Your ammunition.
May our doubts find resolution in bullet holes.
May we rest in peace at night knowing you are always near at hand--our hands, not in the hands of those "others."

—©Copyright 2017, Christopher B. Harbin  http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/ 

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