Last night felt like a wild and stormy night. We saw the menace of a category 4 storm headed towards the Texas-Louisiana coast. That section of the country spent the night with a storm that should be a once in a century kind of occurence--except that for the past several years, we've had this kind of storm once a season (Dorian, Michael), and sometimes more than once a season (Maria, Irma).
I was most concerned with Hurricane Laura, so I wasn't following the other storms. But there were plenty.
There was the Republican National Convention, which you may or may not see as one of the storms. The campaign season certainly feels stormy to me, regardless of our political stance.
There's the ongoing protests about racial injustice, most lately in Kenosha, Wisconsin; I completely missed the story about the white male teenager who felt he needed to take his long gun out into the streets where everyone was out after curfew; he shot several people at close range. Across multiple sports, professional athletes refused to play last night to protest injustice. Games were postponed. I have never seen this kind of solidarity from so many athletes.
I am holding my breath in fear, yes, but in wonder and in hope for a more equal world to emerge on the other side. At the same time, I know what we're up against.
And there's the ongoing storm of a new corona virus which is finding plenty of places to spread--such a contagious creature, and we're lucky it's not more deadly. That said, the death rate is more savage than the flu or other contagions that sweep across our societies on a regular basis.
I thought of writing a prayer, but then I saw a Facebook post from my friend, the Bishop of the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA. He posted this prayer, a prayer perfect for this stormy time:
when the storms rage and threaten to overtake us,
awaken our faith to know the power of your peace.
Deliver us from our fear and ease our anxiety.
Help us to endure the time of uncertainty
and give us strength to face the challenges ahead.
Give us the assurance of your presence even in this time
so that we can cling to your promise of hope and life shown to us
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
(Evangelical Lutheran Worship: Occasional Services for the Assembly, page 394)
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