My new favorite singer

Move over Stevie Nicks. Sorry, Pat Benatar, the same goes for you. I've found a new favorite female vocalist. Make way for Hope Dunbar.

I made Hope's acquaintance online a few days ago. In the wake of the mass murders in Uvalde, Texas earlier this week, Hope posted a link a to a song that she wrote and recorded a few years back.

I love the tone of Hope's voice. And I'm haunted by the lyrics of The Shooter.

Here is a link to a YouTube version of the song.

Hope has graciously given me permission to share the lyrics to The Shooter with you.

THE SHOOTER

The victim didn't know what hit him

it was dark then it was nothing at all

And the witness to the guy who did this

don't know how she's gonna live with it after all

And the mother of the slain watches a coffin descend into a grave

and I'm hundreds of miles away at home and speechless,

And I don't watch the news, but I imagine piles of flowers and balloons

strewn across the sidewalk, spill into the parking lot, people holding hands lighting candles like they do

And the blood-covered shoes from the doctor who worked that night in emergency room remind him of the good that triumphs over evil.

And we all pick teams to prove to each other what it really means

When a man with a gun starts shooting everyone like the explanations gonna bring us peace

And we all pick sides, and march under a flag of being right, yeah, and we sleep real good at night because we know the solution.

Well I'm not the victim, I'm not the witness

I'm not a friend or a mourning mother

I'm safe at home counting days til another innocent life is taken

I'm speechless and frozen like a loser

So I guess that makes me less like the victim and more like the shooter.

And I believe in the dominion of God even in the midst of a world gone wrong

I believe in the words written on the tablets the Lord gave to Moses as the law

And the fifth one says 'you shall not murder' and the meaning of this is that we shall not think or even speak harm against our neighbor. This is most certainly true in the words of Jesus and Martin Luther.

So I guess that makes me less like the victim. And more like the shooter.

© Hope Dunbar

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Hope's words are haunting to me, especially the point that she makes at the end.

She's right. We are "more like the shooter" than we care to admit.

When we pray, deliver us from evil, we're praying not only to be delivered from evil out there, but also from the evil that is inside us.

As we pray for pray for the victims' families of the school massacre, please pray for the murder's mother. Earlier today, I saw a brief news notice regarding her. You can imagine what she is experiencing.

Here is a link to Hope's website, if you're interested in checking out more of her music:

Hope Dunbar