A Step in Grieving the 500,000 Lives Lost in America
A: We take a moment now to pause and remember those who have lost their lives from the Coronavirus.
B: It is hard for us to wrap our minds around the loss of 500,000 in our own country – each one a child of God.
Each one was the joy of someone’s heart; each one nurtured a creative spark.
A: Each one fell down and hurt those they cared about.
B: Each one got up again and tried again and hoped for good.
Each life enriched our world so each loss tears at our hearts.
A: Every life leaves a legacy and touches another life.
B: Every life of blessing flows through creation without end – from person to person, from stranger to stranger, from generation to generation.
Every life continues in God’s saving grace, in the resilience of goodness, in the image of God imprinted deep in our souls.
A: Because we have felt the abundance of God’s love as we have lived, we feel the pinch of sadness and grief.
B: Because we trust in Christ’s promise of resurrection and eternal life, we grasp hold of the hope that we will one day be restored to one another.
Because Christ is fully human and fully God, we know that he shares our sorrow and gives us hope. This grief and this hope do not contradict one another. In faith, we trust that our inner struggle will not undo us. With the Spirit in our hearts and words of faith on our tongues, we will grieve together, pray together, cry together, live out our faith together, and sing the songs of our ancestors together again. Grant us comfort and healing, O God, as you lead us to the new day. Amen.
Image credit: “The Lamentation of Christ” by Anonymous, from the Print Room of the University of Antwerp, 1924.
