UCM Campus Minister Evan Young's closing prayer 

at the June 13 Vigil in Solidarity with Orlando

"We are the change we’re going to see in the world. When we love and when we hate, when we act out of fear and when we embody idealism and courage, we change the world. When we respond to tragedy with sadness or outrage, vitriol or compassion, renewed commitment to a vision we share or a vision that seems too outlandish ever to become reality, all of us are becoming. We choose every second, every minute, every day what future we will move toward. Tonight we stand together, we grieve together, we weep and mourn and proclaim and dream and seek to become, together. And the root, the core of what brings us together, keeps us together, and will ultimately move us forward together is love. Not just for the ones it’s easy to love, the ones we’re told it’s OK to love . . . but also, and especially, for the ones we struggle to love. We need this, we need tonight, we need this gathering and this affirmation and this experience of hands reaching out to our own to remind us of this simple fact, to burn onto our hearts this image of our common humanity and our interdependent community. So that the next time an act of hate, a divisive and hurtful word, a gesture of power-over rather than power-with moves us to repay hurt with hurt, we can remember THIS. This right here is the change I wish to see. May my heart, my soul, my being, my life ever be given to the holy work of being this, everywhere and always. And may I always remember the cloud of witnesses, partners, and fellow travelers that walk this path with me. Amen; blessed be."