You, O God, are our God, and you are a mighty God.
We are overjoyed by the beauty of your creation,
and overwhelmed by your bounty.
But even as we acknowledge your goodness,
we are in awe of your power.
In gentle shower, cooling breeze,
and lapping wave, we find refreshment.
But in torrent, and whirlwind, and storm surge, we stand in fear.
We try to grasp how you can be both the God of fair weather
and the God of typhoon and hurricane;
how your Spirit, which tamed the waters of chaos,
can also bring destruction.
In our terror of what might be
and in our concern for sisters and brothers both near and far,
we cry out to the God we understand—
even Jesus Christ, Divinity made known to us in the flesh.
Calm the storm both within us and around us.
Quiet every voice but your own,
that we may be still and know that the Lord is our Shepherd.
And in the stillness, speak to us of love between God and humanity,
and brotherly and sisterly love among the people of earth.
Whether we are victims or observers,
assure us that we experience no pain you do not understand,
and grant no blessing that is to remain unshared.
Give us the strength, insight, and courage
to make it through difficulties,
and to be there for others
when their burden is too heavy to bear alone.
We pray in your Name, who bore our agony on the cross
and lives in triumph as Ruler of rulers. Amen.
