Melbourne has been in stage 4 lockdown for almost 2 weeks now, I have been returning to these prayers I wrote in the first lockdown earlier this year. Such sorrow for people who cannot accompany beloved family and friends. Such hardship for people forced to stay in uncomfortable proximity.
photo credit: Ian Ferguson
Eternal One,
quell our horror for the dying ,
our fear that they will feel cast off.
In this bitter sorrow at such solitary deaths
may we know your invisible holding,
your love joining ours which yearns to surround them.
Lover of all, Who watches through the night,
draw close to those who are dying,
and to those who mourn.
Calm our terror of abandonment.
Let us hold faith with one another
that love reaches beyond death.
God who weeps,
comfort those who are dying.
May they die without fear.
And while they are yet living,
give us courage to tell our love and trust in yours.
God who knows no forgetting
who companions those who suffer.
Be present to people alone in lockdown,
and to those forced to share crowded spaces.
As fault lines reveal our divided community,
may contrition form new mercy in us.