We pray Lord,
We pray some of us on our knees, some hands folded, palms to heart, forehead to ground, some raising a sign in protest, some gritting their teeth and eyes tight shut and others lighting a candle. We pray for your mercy in these tumultuous times, in these times where every shooting raises a collective groan, “not again,” “this will not stop, when?” families torn from loved ones – gone with the discharge of a weapon. Gone, over and over and still we see the news sorrowing through death, fire, loss, loss, loss….
Lord have mercy. Bring your compassion and comfort. Oh, we grieve.
Silence
For some there is deep sadness. For others anger. For some hatred. Perhaps indifference; resignation; skepticism and denial.
Silence
We grieve for the family and community in south L.A. USA where Dijon Kizzee lived and died on its streets. The county was set to vote on funds for a contract to purchase body cams for its police officers. They are currently not required to wear them.
Sustain us as we gather, sitting at tables and voting, as we march, raise our arms with homemade signs and set candles on a bare sidewalk. Lord have mercy.
Silence
Ninety percent of low- and medium-income countries and even developed countries are having to set aside primary health care services as they address COVID-19. The WHO in its report this week calls attention to the inevitable gap that must be minimized. Lifesaving vaccinations, women’s health care, family welfare home visits, and midwifery services for pregnant women and infants hang in the balance.
Dear Lord we ask that you help us to reconcile the supply chains for essential medicines and health products. Sustain these programs and shepherd funds equitably and swiftly to those most in need. We fear for epidemics and outbreaks – all these words that have become so common in our language.
Lord hear our voices. Amplify our gifts.
Silence
We are grateful for health care workers, strong of will and heart, giving of their years of training. Guide them as they deliver care around the world. In the photo we see Dr. Samreen Khalil, a Polio Eradication Officer with WHO as she collects a sample from Muhammad Shabir at his residence (Pakistan) in order to test for COVID-19.
Encourage, protect and bless them in their often dangerous work.
Silence
Help us to witness the compassion and patience around us. Help us to seek clarity of mind and to let impulses pass, replacing them with wisdom and improved judgement. So much happens in the literal “blink of an eye.” We are continually caught off guard as so much is happening seemingly everywhere in the news. We pray for the people of Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA and now south Los Angeles, California. For those in literal storms and winds way. Help us to not turn off our sense of caring in the face of all of these deep troubles, restore our value that unity and faith are the tinder for our goodness and creative selves. Help us to focus on the simple acts of the heart. Words matter. What we read, write and say, print and broadcast matters. Help us to understand how easily our words can be like stones, our very speech setting forth destruction and killing.
Open our eyes, soften our touch and lessen our anger.
Silence
We give thanks for so many projects throughout the world where people from different countries and skill sets are coming together to provide solutions which help and save lives. We celebrate physicists such as Prof. Jim Black and Roger Rassool’s team making oxygen available in hospitals and clinics throughout the world where electricity supplies are irregular. In Mbarara Hospital, Uganda, child mortality fell by 60% using the FREO2 system. When we do this for the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters, we share your love and compassion.
Silence
Dear Lord, you call us forth when it seems as though there is nothing, nothing we can do in our corner of the world, our little spot, our shelter from the storm. Help us to don our gloves, mask, gown and face shield of tolerance, moderation, restraint, self-control and mercy. We have so many tools and fruits of the spirit. Grow in us a remarkable love that opens, perhaps speaks loudly, listens and even coos. You teach in so many ways as we walk thorough these horrors and calamities, natural and human made.
Help us to discern and forgive, honor and respect, and trust in your Holy Spirit at work among us.
Amen.
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