Prayer for Rising Waters: Getting Through Covid-19

Holy One of Blessing,

Who once blessed our ancestors,

Shine for us

A light forward,

To illumine

The unknown ahead.

Grant us resilience,

Like those who came before us:

And hope amidst the worry,

And promise amidst the fear.

•••

Guide us

Like You guided,

Noah and Naamah,

Partners who planned quickly

for unanticipated days-

Building an ark,

And gathering the animals,

And collecting the seeds

To seed a future unknown.

Help us to hear,

That in spite of our fear,

We must plan together,

Anticipating unsettling weather,

So that our small arks will float above rising waters,

And through raging storms yet to come.

•••

And please hold our children,

Like You held

Isaac the assaulted,

Who struggled to find meaning

After his life was torn apart.

Don’t let this

Childhood trauma

Close up their hearts.

Rather grant us the smarts,

And a love

Deep like Rebekah’s,

To get them through this era

By teaching them a lesson:

That by loving each other,

And by sharing our hearts,

We can overcome

Even the most debilitating

Worry, anxiety, and fear.

•••

And uplift each of us too

Like You uplifted

Sarai the soulful,

Who dug deep amidst her despair,

To discover strength

Hidden within.

Like she who fed the others,

Those three stranger-wanderers

Who arrived from a distance

So far, far away.

May we feed each other,

With manna from our souls,

Shrinking the distance between us

With words we text, tweet, or say.

Send us hope for the future –

Like her child to be born! –

So that we too may laugh,

As we telegraph,

Amidst the greatest of fear

Now sitting with us here,

That amongst all of the oys,

We will still find great joy,

Unbounded,

Unending,

And simchas so deep.

•••

Source of our Wonder and Life,

Please guide us with chesed

So that

With planning and love,

And laughter and hope,

We will find a way to cope,

And we will find a way through.

-please share