august laperche

God of our grief,
God who is not afraid to say the word “death”,
God of light and life,
God who transforms –
When we feel fear, though we are not afraid
we know that you are with and among us.
When our bodies are restless, and it feels hard to breathe
we know that you are with and among us.
When everything feels out of control, and when our triggers feel endless
we know that you are with and among us.
When pain arises out of the most unexpected places,
and it is easier to hold onto than it is to let go of the frustration this causes
we know that you are with and among us.
When we feel full of questions, and the answers of the world feel insufficient
we know that you are with and among us.
When our grief begins to overwhelm us, feeling like a never-ending journey
we know that you are with and among us.
When we crave hope and thirst for connection to Your presence and to community
we know that you are with and among us.
When we cannot seem to even hope that someday we might have hope again
we know that you are with and among us.
As we learn to own our grief and as we shake off our fear of the word “death”
we know that you are with and among us.
As we move through our pain slowly, integrating our grief into life beyond stages
we know that you are with and among us.
Amen.

Photo by Jessica Delp on Unsplash