Lent 10

O Eternal God, brood over those places that are silent today in the wake of devastation. Remember the life that they held, the laughter, the comings-and-goings. Remember the lives that they held, the people who have been displaced, the people who have died, the ones who have fled in terror. Listen again to the horror that preceded the quiet with explosive pops, booming thunder, violent roars, frantic screams, desperate prayers. From your vantage point of immortality, you know that our lives have the span of a house fly. Yet in your mercy, be kind to us in these moments that seem to stand still, in these places where silence is the echo of dazed & heartbroken spirits.