When the weeping of the nations
fills our hearts with holy dread,
when a virus rings with pity
those who cannot reach their dead,
God is in our consternation,
weeping by each sufferer’s bed.
Distanced, lacking human comfort,
no more in a mother’s arms,
fearful faces peer through visors
watching, even breathing harms,
knowing only humane kindness
brings the peace that heals, disarms.
God bring strength in human weakness,
give us grace that we might see
through the mists of mortal blindness
how to live through agony,
how through quiet compassion, silence,
we might mark our empathy.
Andrew Pratt 31/12/2020
Words © 2021 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England. http://www.stainer.co.uk.
Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Tune: PICARDY Metre: 87 87 87
hymnsandbooks 