In the face of unspeakable violence....

Sometimes Hard to Find in the Midst of it all God:

Where are you holy one? 

Blood covers the streets of Paris.
In Beirut, in China, in countries whose names I don't even know,
folks are hurting.
Lives are lost.
Tears fall on ground that already holds so much pain.

I know I am supposed to pray.
I know.
But my prayers feel so inadequate.
What are words as mothers wash the blood of their children off their hands?
What is prayer when guns are so much louder?

Where are you holy one? 

With Job, with Jephthah's Daughter, with the Psalmists I cry out,
How long O Lord, how long?
With millions of faithful brothers and sisters throughout history,
with all those who know laments so well,
I join my voice.

And perhaps this is where I'll find you-
in the sound of so many searching for grace,
in the hands of those who works for peace,
in the tears of the faithful who still today, in the wake of such pain, such agony,
rise and search for you.

Perhaps this is where I'll find you but for now, in this moment, all I know to do is cry out--

Where are you holy one? Where are you? 

Amen.