Prayers of the People, Transfiguration B

​God of the Whirlwind,

We wake in early morning hours
to swirling stories that dramatize the news,
and we squint through tired eyes
to find you in the midst of what ensues.
Our spirits long for teachers
who will walk alongside,
who will share the breadth of their experience
of you, and who will guide.
The day is long and everywhere --
on street corners and in Facebook pages --
doom and gloom are prophesied
by dime store prophets and self-appointed sages.

Your people mourn the passing
of the familiar, and putting one foot
in front of the other,
we cry out, "Where is God?"

We cannot see your compassion in government
or your mercy in the blowing storms
or your love in your people
or your peace where there is war,
but we stand and watch
in fervent hope
that in doing so, we will catch a glimpse
of you to help us cope.
Cover us in grace, we pray,
and embolden us to speak
that at day's end -- when we report in --
we can say with confidence we were not weak.

Amen.