Prayer from Storm and Heat

For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. (Isaiah 25: 4a)

God, from our summer of storms we pray.

We pray for Texas and Arkansas
and the coast of Louisiana in the midst of Beta.
We pray for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island,
Quebec, Newfoundland, the Magdalen Islands
in the path of Teddy.
We pray for the new threat of Paulette
heading for the Azores.

We pray for those no longer newsworthy
but prayworthy –
rebuilding, grieving, counting losses,
from Sally and Laura, from derecho and tornadoes,
for so many in this heart-breaking year.

God, from our summer of fires we pray.

We pray for forty fires in the western states
which are not yet contained,
and especially for those who fight
to contain them and shelter those who flee.

And for the acres, homes, businesses,
human lives, wildlife lost,
the despair of char, the sorrow of ash,
the breathlessness of smoke,
the living on that comes afterwards,
We pray.

We pray for these storms and these fires,

and we pray for an earth wisdom,
oh, for a wisdom that cares for the earth
in new ways
in the days that are to come. amen