Loving God, first, we want to
thank you kindly for your grace and love. Your grace assures us that we are
your children, one and all, and comforts us that we are close to you. Your love
is truly steadfast; it sustains us in times of trial and reminds us of
humility’s virtues in times of triumph. We thank you for the gift of life. We
thank you for these gifts today and every day.
We have much else for which to
be thankful, God, but our thanks are tempered by the knowledge that your
creation can be a sad, lonely, and sometimes terrifying place. Many of our brothers
and sisters, especially our aged brethren and those with compromised immune
systems, are endangered by this Coronavirus, for which we were so ill prepared.
Many are sick; many have died. Many more will become sick; many more will die. We
know that you did not cause this new plague, and we know you suffer along with
us. Let us be ever mindful that you are holding us especially close to your
great heart in this time of trial. Let us feel your assurance that this, too,
shall pass. Lead us, we pray, to face this scourge without panic, but with due
concern, strength, courage, and perseverance.
But Coronavirus is only the
latest of many threats to your people, God. These other threats have not gone
away simply because this disease is occupying our attention right now. When the
Coronavirus is only a memory, they will remain. There are many among us who are
homeless and hungry, sick or lonely, imprisoned, or victimized by senseless
violence. Many are weary from fighting battles against their personal demons. Inspire
us to open our hearts, as well as our bank accounts, and clear our calendars to
provide the material assistance they need. We ask you to bless them especially;
grant them strength, dignity, courage, and serenity in the face of the storm. As
you continue to grace us, grace them with the sure knowledge of your presence
and love. Lift their hearts and grant them healing.
We know, too, that the world
you gave us is collapsing under the weight of its own corruption. We are on the
brink of natural disaster on a worldwide scale—a catastrophe of our own making—yet
we seem paralyzed and powerless to avert it. Too many people are starving, God,
and too much disease goes untreated. And worst, too many of your innocent
children are suffering from the desolation of war. Your children are divided
against one another—by the inequitable distribution of your bounty, age-old
ethnic hatreds, ideology and religion, and by injustice everywhere. All sides
claim your special favor in holy conflict, killing one another in your name.
Yet the sad truth, God, is that we crucify you once again each time we take a
human life or allow one to die because of our own inaction.
We pray for your loving
intervention. We pray you reach into the hearts of all people, everywhere, and
make us well. Let your mercy fall down like the waters, and bind us tight under
the gentle, cooling rain of your steadfast love. Touch our hearts and end this dark
night. Heal us, we pray, not just from this new plague, but also from all that
separates us from you.
Though the world is not as we
would have it—far from it—still we celebrate you and thank you from the bottom
of our hearts for your gifts of life and this planet. Remind us, when we need
reminding, never to forget that life is sweet, and there is beauty, compassion,
and love to be found in the most unexpected places. And we thank you, most of
all, for the extraordinary gift of your son Jesus, whose name is the very
definition of love, peace, and compassion. May we take his words to heart and look
to his life as our moral example. Help us, always, to strive to bring about your
sovereignty, in which, one day, there will be no sorrow and no tears and where all your children can thank you for
peace, good health, and plenty. Amen.
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