Above:  Earthrise, Apollo 8 (1968)

Image in the Public Domain

Text by Albert F. Bayly (1901-1984)

Hymn Source = The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

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Lord, save thy world:  in bitter need

thy children lift their cry to thee;

we wait thy liberating deed

to signal hope and set us free.

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Lord, save thy world:  our souls are bound

in iron chains of fear and pride;

high walls of ignorance around

our faces from each other hide.

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Lord, save thy world:  we strive in vain

to save ourselves without thine aid;

what skill and science slowly gain

is soon to evil ends betrayed.

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Lord, save thy world:  but thou hast sent

the Saviour whom we sorely need;

for us his tears and blood were spent,

that from our bonds we might be freed.

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Then save us now, by Jesus’ power,

and use the lives thy love sets free

to bring at last the glorious hour

when all men find thy liberty.

ON THE OCCASION OF A DISASTER

Compassionate God, whose Son Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus:

Draw near to us in this time of sorrow and anguish,

comfort those who mourn,

strengthen those who are weary,

encourage those in despair,

and lead us all to fullness of life;

through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer,

who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.  Amen.

Readings

Job 14:7-13 or Jeremiah 31:15-20

Psalm 60 or 130 or 80:1-7 or 23

Romans 8:35-38 or Revelation 21:1-7 or Romans 8:18-25

Luke 6:20-26 or Mark 13:14-27

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 733

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IN A TIME OF NATURAL DISASTER

O God, you divided the waters of chaos at creation.

In Christ you stilled storms, raised the dead,

and vanquished demonic powers.

Tame the earthquake, wind, and fire,

and all forces that defy control or shock us by their fury.

Keep us from calling disaster your justice.

Help us, in good times and in distress,

to trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever.

Amen.

–Andy Langford, in The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992), 509

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DURING A NATIONAL CRISIS

God of ages,

in your sight nations rise and fall,

and pass through times of peril.

Now when our land is troubled,

be near to judge and save.

May leaders be led by your wisdom;

may they search your will and see it clearly.

If we have turned from your way,

help us to reverse our ways and repent.

Give us light and your your truth to guide us;

through Jesus Christ,

who is the Lord of this world, and our Savior.  Amen.

—Book of Common Worship (1993), 818

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TIME OF CONFLICT, CRISIS, DISASTER

O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope.

Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance.

Where impossibilities close every door and and window, grant imagination and resistance.

Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination.

Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grand soaring wings and strengthened dreams.

All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 76

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TIME OF CIVIC MOURNING

God our creator, through whose providing care we enjoy all goodness and life,

turn our eyes to your mercy at this time of confusion and loss.

Comfort this nation as we mourn;

shine your light on those whose only companion is darkness;

and teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts to your wisdom;

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 77

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https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-prayers/

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-prayers/

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Above:  The Entombment of Christ

Image in the Public Domain

Original Greek Text (700s) by St. John of Damascus

English Translation John Athelstan Laurie Riley (1858-1945)

Hymn Source = The English Hymnal (1906), The Church of England

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What sweet of life endureth

Unmixed with Bitter Pain?

‘Midst earthly change and chances

What glory doth remain?

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All is a feeble shadow,

A dream that will not stay;

Death cometh in a moment,

And taketh all away.

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O Christ, a light transcendent

Shines in thy countenance,

And none can tell the sweetness,

The beauty of thy glance.

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In this may thy poor servant

His joy eternal find;

Thou calledst him, O rest him,

Thou Lover of mankind!

Above:  Nevada State Orphanage, Carson City, Nevada

Image Source = Library of Congress

Litany Source = A Book of Worship for Free Churches (1948), the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States

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Let us thank God for his blessings.  For all thy blessings in creation; for the beauty of earth and sea and sky; for thy manifold works, and the wisdom with which thou hast made them all,

We thank thee, O God.

For the happiness of our earthly life; for peaceful homes and healthful days; for our powers of mind and body; for faithful friends, for the joy of loving and being beloved,

We thank thee, O God.

For the revelation of thy love and for newness of life in our Saviour; for the blessings brought to us by thy holy Church; for the grace of thy sacraments and for our fellowship with thee in Christ,

We thank thee, O God.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.  From blindness to thy presence in life and sacrament; from hardness of heart and from want of truth, in thought and word and deed,

Good Lord, deliver us.

From all that would injure the body, from unworthy fears and anxieties, from despondency, discontent and despair,

Good Lord, deliver us.

From want of sympathy with friends and neighbors; from harsh judgments and ill-feeling towards any; from idle talk and slander; from want of love for our contrary, and unwillingness to seek the common good,

Good Lord, deliver us.

When we question the value of life; when our sense of duty grows faint through self-indulgence; in suffering and failure; in times of happiness and success; in our days of labor and our nights of rest; in the freedom of youth and the weariness of old age; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment,

Good Lord, deliver us.

That it may please thee to bless with wisdom and courage to those to whom the people have entrusted power, and to give thy guidance and blessing to all who hold rule over their fellows;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to inspire all who are seeking to improve the conditions of our industrial life, and to give fortitude and new hope to all who are out of work;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to solace all who have lost those whom they most loved; to sustain the widows and orphans; to uphold all who are sick and suffering; to protect such as have lost the kindly light of reason; and to supply the needs of the blind, the deaf, and the dumb;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

May the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the splendor of the Eternal Light, remove from our hearts all darkness, now and forevermore.  Amen.

–Pages 306-309

Above:  The Lamentation of Christ, by El Greco

Image in the Public Domain

Prayer Source = Book of Worship (1942), Evangelical and Reformed Church

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God of comfort and infinite compassion, who canst turn sorrow into joy;

look mercifully upon all who are in trouble whether of mind, body, or estate;

sustain and heal the sick;

support and sanctify the dying;

visit with thy mercy those who mourn.

Pour thy divine peace into every wounded spirit;

and give to each desolate soul the assurance of thy love;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Above:  Christ Blessing, by Nardo di Cione

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1901) by Cleland Boyd McAfee (1866-1944), a minister of the former Presbyterian Church in the United States (1861-1983), after two nieces died concurrently of diphtheria

Hymn Source = The Presbyterian Hymnal:  Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs (1990), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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1.  There is a place of quiet rest,

Near to the heart of God,

A place where no sin can molest,

Near to the heart of God.

O Jesus, blest Redeemer,

Sent from the heart of God,

Hold us, who wait before Thee,

Near to the heart of God.

2.  There is a place of comfort sweet,

Near to the heart of God,

A place where we our Savior meet,

Near to the heart of God.

O Jesus, blest Redeemer,

Sent from the heart of God,

Hold us, who wait before Thee,

Near to the heart of God.

3.  There is a place of full release,

Near to the heart of God,

A place where all is joy and peace,

Near to the heart of God.

O Jesus, blest Redeemer,

Sent from the heart of God,

Hold us, who wait before Thee,

Near to the heart of God.

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This is post #1550 of GATHERED PRAYERS.

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Above:  A Barber Shop Located in the Ninth Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana, Damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005

Photographer = Carol M. Highsmith

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-highsm-04024

Prayer by Andy Langford

Prayer Source = The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992)

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O God, you divided the waters of chaos at creation.

In Christ you stilled storms, raised the dead,

and vanquished demonic powers.

Tame the earthquake, wind, and fire,

and all the forces that defy control or shock us by their fury.

Keep us from calling disaster your justice.

Help us, in good times and in distress,

to trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever.

Amen.

Above:  Mountain Morning

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Concordia Hymnal:  A Hymnal for Church, School and Home (1932), Norwegian-American Lutheran

Original Words by Wilhelm Andreas Wexels (1797-1866)

English Translation (1931) by Oscar R. Overby (1892-1964)

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1.  One radiant morn the mists will all surrender,

And life’s uncertain shadows pass away;

When light celestial breaks in dazzling splendor

To lead my step into eternal day.

2.  One radiant morn the mysteries I ponder,

And leave unsolved on all my quests abroad,

Shall be construed for me in fullness yonder

When I awake to sense the ways of God.

3.  One radiant morn when hearts bowed down in sorrow

Are comforted and reconciled above,

All pain and tears I here in anguish borrow

Shall be dissolved in fountain-rays of love.

4.  One radiant morn with eyes unveiled before Him,

I’ll see the One my faith and hope embrace;

Within the holy realms I’ll praise, adore Him,

And kneel to thank my Savior face to face.

5.  One radiant morn when sinless souls assemble,

Where each desire is born in purity,

No more the thought of wrong shall make me tremble,

But, ransomed, I shall live forever free.

6.  One radiant morn in halls of home supernal,

I’ll meet again the friend I here esteem,

In glory speak with him of life eternal,

And of the life that vanished like a dream.

7.  O Jesus, stir within my heart of sadness

This vision fair whene’er I grieve forlorn,

That it may turn all bitter tears to gladness,

And lead my spirit to that radiant morn.

Above:  Cathedral Ruins

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = Hymnal for Church and Home (1938), Danish Evangelical Lutheran Synods in America

Original Text by Wilhelm Andreas Wexels (1797-1866)

English Translation by Soren Damsgaard Rodholm (1877-1951)

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1.  Some day, I know, the mist that is veiling

Shall roll away and darkness disappear

Before the day with radiance never failing,

On which my path shall lie before me clear.

2.  Some day, I know, all mysteries perplexing,

Which here I never quite could understand,

With all my problems yet unsolved and vexing,

Shall be revealed, and I shall see God’s hand.

3.  Some day, I know, all sorrow shall have vanished,

All wounds be healed and ev’ry want supplied.

All tears shall cease, all sighs for aye be banished;

In love’s embrace all unrest shall subside.

4.  Some day, I know, I shall appear before Him

Whom here I hold in love’s and faith’s embrace.

Shall humbly kneel and gratefully adore Him,

And with mine eyes behold Him face to face.

5.  Some day, I know, for sin no longer slaving,

Each tho’t and word and deed unstained and pure,

I shall not even fear a sinful craving

My purity and bliss might e’er obscure.

6.  Some day, I know, in yonder realms of glory,

I, with the friend I found while on the way,

Shall speak of that new life and tell the story

Of this old life, dimmed like a dream by day.

7. My Savior, give my heart this sweet conviction

Each time the way seems long and full of pain,

That it may lighten ev’ry deep affliction

And cause a smile to shine through tears again.

Above:  Map of Nepal, 1945

Image Source = Hammond’s New Era Atlas of the World, 1945

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Prayer Source = Chalice Worship (1997), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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Lord of compassion and power,

be with those who have survived this disaster;

minister to their needs of mind and spirit, body and circumstance;

help those who are hurt;

give peace to the dying;

comfort and support the bereaved;

and to all who are working to bring relief and restore order,

give strength and resilience to do their work well;

for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.