Prayers of the People for COVID, Part II

Prayers of the People for COVID, Part II

Rev. Debra McKnight

For Exhaustion; the work of not working, the work of thinking and re-thinking, the energy devoted to deciding what to do, what risk to take and what level of engagement is safe. For being exhausted with being home, exhausted with worry, exhausted with being alone, exhausted while working with children begging to play or talk or draw or dream. For the weight of waiting, for the plans made and unmade, for the longing, the worry and the loneliness in a season when nothing seems easy and everything puts us all on edge; grant a deep breath of peace, a moment of centering and discernment on what we really need.  

For Grief at the loss of those beloved and those known only in numbers, stats and stories on tv, for loss of hugs and gatherings and connections we need, for the milestones and moments we missed, for tear stained faces and hearts weary with worry, for nurses holding hands for one last breath, for loss heaped on loss and grief upon grief, grant us healing that we may both receive and also be caregivers and companions on this uncertain road.

For Anger in the face of blatantly cruelty guised as policy enforced as rules, for inhumanity squelching breath and stealing life without a shred of accountability, for white supremacy flying high in Air Force One, for profiting from human pain, for healthcare paid for by church spaghetti feed, go-fund me or medical bankruptcy; for immeasurable lies, for fake news, for every injustice that keeps us all from being free; grant us righteous rage to strike like lightning and finish the American symphony.

For Gratitude in the face of struggle, for phone calls and zoom connections, for laughter that sings straight from the soul or quite moments outside, for blossoms, butterflies and babies that remind us God’s determination for life, for researchers and therapists, doctors and nurses, for caregivers and mask wearers, for words of love that sew hope through our veins, songs that sooth and resilience seeded in our very souls, for bold leaders calling us forward and momentum to change; grant us eyes to glimpse God’s love and give thanks.

For this pregnant pause of on the way to making all things new, the labor pains of new life, the hope held tight that we can heal the wounds we make, grant us the courage to push when the midwife calls and grant us a pause to breathe deep, renew our hearts and fortify our hopes for the work at hand.

For those we name aloud and in our hearts….
for those named and unnamed, let us pray to God, saying,

Loving God, hear our prayer.