Prayer as Hurricane Ida approaches landfall

O God, your eye is not the hurricane’s eye.
Your eye is on all our fragile,
sparrowlike efforts to escape danger,
prepare for winds,
notice those who need help,
and get help to them.

On this day, so sadly remembered
for hurricane Katrina,
we pray for everyone
in Louisiana and Alabama,
and northward anticipating the storm.

Be with those jammed on highways,
sitting in airports as flights cancel,
boarding up home and business,
preparing for rescue work,
caring for fragile populations,
waiting in filled hospitals,

for those frozen still,
because they do not want to leave
a place, a person, a memory,
a companion animal,
or they have nowhere to go …
and all who love them from afar.

Your love is deeper and wider,
your peace is within.
We know you watch, and help us.
amen.