The reason we say "thoughts and prayers" is because we acknowledge there are neither words, nor actions, that can mend. Only God can reach these areas and we call upon him to do so. Grief at the loss of a loved one in a tragic accident, and yes, the victims of a mass.... murderer. The hatred and darkness in the wicked heart cannot be reached by law; only God sees it, only God can reach it. It is the malevolent will that kills, and he will not be prevented because access to the tools is denied. Ask the folks in Nice, France. cf the World Trade Towers. cf, Bath school, c. 1927.

Only by prayer can we hope to prevent this immediate malevolence from manifesting... and only by righteous violence can we end the wicked violence in progress. So it is, so it will always remain. To think otherwise is a wishful thinking far infinitely more a wisp than calling upon the Almighty God, maker of the heavens and the earth, to intervene.

If we abandon God, and treat 'prayer' as 'doing nothing,' then there really is nothing else that can be done. No hope. No salvation, not in this life, or the next.

And if we go further and dismiss the practical reality that only righteous violence can end wicked violence, then we've done by our actions the one thing that will be sure to bring even more violence down upon our own heads.

Such foolishness that would be. Such foolishness THAT IS.