As the sun set over my world early this evening, I watched the shadows grow long and dissipate into night. My thoughts turned toward the families in Bangladesh and Baghdad: victims of terrorism. I also thought of the families in Oaxaca, Mexico: victims of their own government. As that stillness settles over the landscape and the summer heat begins to lift just a bit, I feel helpless in the face of the chaos and homicidal madness of our world. In my prayer, I am with the victims of violence in this moment; I am them. I pray for comfort to come as a miracle for those who mourn. I pray for the root causes of terrorism to become uprooted. I pray for “swords to be beaten into plowshares.” What else can I do in this moment? In this very moment when the cooing of the desert doves begins to quiet and they settle down with their young ones for the night.