On the anniversary of 9-11

As I listen to the litany of names read aloud of those who lost their lives that day, my tears overflow. I can only listen, and breathe, and implore God's mercy on us.

Have mercy on these, your children, still grieving and missing loved ones.
Have mercy on those parents who lost children, a cruel reversal of the natural order of death.
Have mercy on those children who lost parents, forced to grow up too soon.
Have mercy on us who take for granted the loved ones in our lives, we who don't stop often enough in simple gratitude and love.
Have mercy on us who have caused the loss of innocent life in retaliation for this evil, we who have inflicted this same pain on others in far away lands.
Have mercy on us who refuse to see someone else's loss as equal to our own.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us all.

O God of the stars 

and the night skies

May your light be coming through 

thick clouds this day

On me and on everyone

coming through dark tears

On each one in need

and in suffering.

--Celtic Prayers from Iona, J. Philip Newell