God, Come Near

A prayer for this troubled moment

Sunday, October 29
Grand Rapids, Mich.

I woke up yesterday morning tired and unsettled. Though I no longer pray quite like I used to, a memory popped into my mind: my grandmother, on her knees by her bedside, hands clasped and eyes closed, sending upward all the questions and the feelings, the laments and the longings, with which she didn’t know what else to do.

At the same time, I was holding in my heart one particular video from this week, captured, I believe, by the Palestinian photographer Mahmoud Bassam. It shows a young mother in Gaza, on her knees as she holds the body of her dead child, which is wrapped in a white shroud. I’m not going to post it here. If you want to find it, it’s on Bassam’s Instagram page (@mahmoudbassam8).

This should not be. Hearts need not be broken, families need not be destroyed, lives need not be shattered this way. When will we learn to turn away from violence? How do we choose something more life-giving, something more mutually beneficial?

“Lover Laments the Death of His Beloved,” anonymous artist of the British School, c. 1860, oil on canvas. From the collection of the National Library of Wales

Remembering my grandmother and holding that image of the grief-stricken mom, I sat down and wrote the following prayer—for Gaza, for Israel, for all the griefs and sorrows of this aching, broken world. I hope you find it in some way helpful, and I pray that you will be moved to do whatever you can to bring justice and healing, mercy and love to a world that so desperately needs all of it.

—

God of the heartbroken,
Where are you?
Be with the children who cry out.
Be with the mourners and the grievers.
Be with the frightened and the weary.
Be with the thirsty and the hungry.
God, come near.

God of justice,
Where are you?
Obliterate our apathy.
Grow our empathy.
Bolster our solidarity.
Turn us toward goodness.
God, come near.

God of abundant life,
Where are you?
Move us to forsake violence.
Make us people of healing and care.
Lead us out of fear and hatred.
Guide us along the path of peace.
God, come near.

God of steadfast love,
Where are you?
Soften human hearts.
Grant us courage and vision.
Give us spirits of mercy and hope.
Show us the way to mutual flourishing.
God, come near.