If you’re the praying kind, take a moment to pray for the victims of bomb blasts that have made headlines so far in April.

We pray for the victims of the car bomb that went off in central Damascus, Syria, killing 19 and injuring more than 50.

We pray for the victims in the bus that was hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, killing 9 and wounding more than 20.

We pray for the victims of the bomb that exploded on a bus in Northwest Pakistan, killing 9 and wounding several.

We pray for the victims of the bomb that was detonated in a political rally in Peshawar, Pakistan that has killed 9 and wounded dozens.

We pray for the victims of the bomb blasts in Boston, USA, killing 3 and injuring over 170.

Each of the victims of all of those atrocious acts, and all of their families and friends, had their lives torn away or irrevocably changed as those bombs exploded. We should grieve for all of them.

Our world knows violence all too well and these are just the tip of the iceberg of terror that rips at the heart of communities around the globe every single day. The terror of violence comes in many forms, some obvious and headlining grabbing as each of these was, and some hidden and insidious.

Though it may not be obvious, we all have an opportunity to respond to violence and combat it by the way we live and act in a world that desperately needs the good of humanity to be so much stronger than acts that seek to tear us down.

As we grieve for the victims of violence may we resolve to not let what violence breeds become us. May all people everywhere who want better for our world resolve to live lives built on the foundations of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.