Prayer after the airline crash in China

God, whose sheltering wings
are only love, and who cares
for falling of sparrows, we pray

for one hundred twenty-three passengers,
and nine crew members, lost
on their flight from Kunming
somewhere over Wuzhou
on the journey to Guanzhou.

We honor these many lives,
and all they have given,
and mourn the possibilities
of their tomorrows,
and we pray comfort for families,
mothers, fathers, children,
brothers and sisters,
and strength for emergency crews
going into the mountains
for search and rescue.

The sorrow of sky and mountain,
the burning of bamboo forest,
the loss of every dream,
and the breaking of every heart,
we lift in grief. amen