When our world is rent by violence and our lives are marred by grief, when our songs of calm assurance turn to cries of unbelief: God, we raise our lamentation seeking refuge and relief. When our cities stand forsaken and the poor must beg for bread, when the pris'ner sits forgotten and the homeless find no bed, God, we raise our lamentation: waken justice from the dead! When our lives are burnt to ashes and our hopes fade like a dream, when our stories lose their meaning and despair becomes their theme, God, we raise our lamentation: come, Lord Jesus, to redeem! Raise up beauty from the ashes; end our violence; tend our peace. Give us visions of a future where all captives find release, where oppression is evicted, and all works of hatred cease.