Hope on, then broken
spirit; hope on, be not afraid;
Fear not the griefs that
plague thee and keep thy heart dismayed;
Thy God, in his great
mercy, will save thee, hold thee fast,
And in his own time grant
thee, the sun of joy at last.
Dear Friends
During a cloudy, misty, early morning walk a couple of days ago, I took the picture above of the sun trying to break through. It reminded me of these words from one of our hymns. It is too soon to sing them, however. It is too soon to speak of hope and sunlight or say, “everything will be okay” because nothing is okay after what has and is happening.
I am at a loss of words, but I still find it helpful to write something. This is part of a prayer I offered this week at my Rotary meeting and was invited to share again the next morning at the Corona Chamber of Commerce meeting.
Let us pray:
In the midst of things we cannot begin to imagine, or
fathom, or understand; in the face of unspeakable, barbaric acts; we lift up to
you, those who are dying; those whose hearts are breaking; those who are living
in fear; those who are desperate for information; those who are angry beyond
measure; that they may cling, in this moment, to at least a sliver of
hope in the overwhelming goodness in this world, and not let what is
happening keep them from knowing the shared grief of so many people pouring out
their love and prayers, and standing by to bring help.
We pray for leaders who must make difficult decisions.
Grant them wisdom, courage and clear vision to try
again to disrupt and break the vicious, repeating cycle of hate and terror and
violence, which has no place in this world and doesn’t accomplish anything.
God have mercy upon us. Accept our outrage and our tears. And, as we may wonder and worry about what will happen next, help us remain focused in our daily lives, to keep on speaking and doing what is good and right and true. Help us continue to see and treat each other as beloved, fellow children of God, and discover the difference that makes.
God have mercy upon us. God help us. Amen.
John
