God of Lament,
You know our transgressions.
You await us,
a patient Listener as we
pour out our travails
and lamentations.
As we survey the devastation
wrought by Hurricane Michael,
we do so with grief in our hearts
and hope in our eyes.
Grief for the lives lost and uprooted;
hope for the unexpected ways
You will provide care and comfort.
Where there is turmoil,
bring tranquility.
Where there is havoc,
bring harmony.
Where there is nothing,
fill it with Your everything.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Just Judge,
You seek to make all things right.
Let us seek the same.
Let us keep our sight on the good,
the wholesome, the renewed,
the Christ-in-the-world.
Let us practice your restorative grace
among all those we encounter,
from those who carry earthly acclaim
to those we wrongly consider
the least of these.
Show us Your extreme equality,
Your radical ratio,
Where the last shall be first,
the first shall be last,
and all shall be well.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Challenging Lord,
You call us to sacrifice
the things we think will sustain us.
The comforts that have made
our hearts too care-full.
Give us the strength to let go.
To empty our hands of
that which we clutch too tightly.
To drop the burdens of
safety and security,
to embrace You and Your call fully.
In this community, may we
embody Your commands
to drop everything and follow You.
For with You,
all things are possible.
All this we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy.