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Dear friend,
With over 22,000 people dead and more than 80,000 injured, Monday’s earthquake in Turkey and Syria has become one of the deadliest in recent history. Thousands now find themselves homeless. O God, we see suffering.
O God, we see suffering
in Syria and Turkey
There, buildings fell, folks displaced
While they beg for mercy
From city streets, the cries of grief
rise up to hills above;
In all the sorrow, pain and death,
where are you, God of love?
A woman sifts through rubble,
a man has lost his home,
A hungry, orphaned toddler sobs,
for she is now alone.
Where are you, God, when thousands die—
the rich, the poorest poor?
Were you the very first to cry
for all that is no more?
O God, you love your children;
you hear each lifted prayer!
May all who suffer in that land
know you are present there.
In moments of compassion shown,
in simple acts of grace,
May those in pain find healing balm,
and know your love’s embrace.
Where are you in the anguish?
God, may we hear anew
That anywhere your world cries out,
you’re there — and suffering, too.
And may we see, in others’ pain,
the cross we’re called to bear;
Send out your church in Jesus’
name to pray, to serve, to share.
This hymn-prayer is adapted from O God, We Hear of Suffering, written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette.
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