Into the Middle: A Litany for the Pandemic

ONE:
Sometimes, it feels like
You have forgotten us-
left us in this unending cyclone
of uncertainty, grief, death, and loss,
wreaking havoc on our already fragile lives.

MANY:
Yet your Incarnation reminds us
that you are not a far-away God,
but a God who always breaks in,
comes into the middle
of our pain and darkness.

ONE:
So we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”

MANY:
Come quickly, and save.

ONE:
Into the middle of our grief
for lives lost too soon- unnecessarily, disproportionately -

MANY:
Come and bring your holy tears alongside ours.

ONE:
Into the middle of our separation,
pangs of loneliness, cravings for touch that bridges distance

MANY:
Come and bring your presence to hold our ache.

ONE:
Into the middle of our resignation
fear of what news will break,
what plans will change, what disappoints we’ll face

MANY:
Come and bring your promise of love that never fails.

ONE:
Into the middle of our anger
at the unjust treatment of the poor,
selfish and blatant disregard for human life

MANY:
Come and bring your righteous anger, reminding us that you will judge.

ONE:
Into the middle of our exhaustion,
weariness from the unrelenting unknown,
loss of time markers, forever hazy days

MANY:
Come and grant us your Spirit of true rest.

ONE:
Into the middle of our need,
failing lungs, hungry bellies,
dwindling bank accounts, a lack of shelter

MANY:
Come grant us daily bread and sustaining breath.

ONE:
And as your presence breaks in, and breaks through
into the middle of all that consumes and surrounds us

MANY:
Give us the eyes to see,
the ears to hear,
the heart to receive
Your generous presence as Emmanuel-
God in the middle,
God in the mess,
God in the midst of it all. Amen.