Teach Us Your Peace - Free Download

In the aftermath of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, I found that my first reaction was one of despairing resignation. These massacres continue to occur at regular intervals in our country, and many of our leaders continue to lack the moral virtue, personal integrity, or political courage to enact meaningful and commonsense changes to our gun laws that could prevent so many of these unnecessary deaths. I had no plan on writing anything in response, but the words “Teach us your peace” came to my mind, and as I started writing, I once again realized that the act of creation itself—be it a painting, a poem, a meal, a song, a short story—can be a counter-testimony against the chaos and death around us. And maybe in many shared acts of creation, we will be given the creativity, the vision, and the courage to change.

~David Bjorlin