Prayer After an Earthquake

Let us not forget that the base reason for the nuclear accident in Japan was the earthquake and tsunami.  Bulldozers and lifts are still pulling and pushing rubble, boats, household effects from the streets and thousands are living in improvised shelters.  Here is a prayer for the land and the people who have lost so much yet face each day with grace.

Prayer After an Earthquake


Oh God, at times such as this,
when we realize that the ground beneath our feet
is not as solid as we had imagined, we plead for your mercy.

As the things we have built crumble about us,
we know too well how small we truly are
on this ever-changing, ever-moving, fragile planet we call home.

Yet you never forget us.

Oh God, come to our assistance

Today, so many people are afraid.
They wait in fear of another tremor.
They hear the cries of the injured in their sleep.
They roam the streets in shock at what they see.
And they fill the dusty air with wails of grief and the names of missing dead.

Comfort them, Oh God, in this disaster.

Be their rock when the earth refuses to stand still,
and shelter them under your wings when homes no longer exist.

Embrace in your arms those who died so suddenly in this tragedy.

Console the hearts of those who mourn,
and ease the pain of bodies on the brink of death.

Fill our hearts with compassion,
we who watch from afar,
as the poorest on this side of the earth
find only misery upon misery.

Move us to act swiftly this day,
to give generously every day, to work for justice always,
and to pray unceasingly for those without hope.

And now that the shaking has ceased,
the images of that destruction have stopped filling the news,
and our thoughts turn to nuclear rumblings,
let us not forget that we are all your children
and they, our brothers and sisters.
We are all the work of your hands.

For though the mountains leave their place
and the hills be tossed to the ground, your love shall never leave us,

and your promise of peace will never be shaken.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and forever. Amen



- (modified) Author Unknown, posted at The New Zealand Hymnbook Trust