Prayers for the Coronavirus
As people of faith we invite you to gather together during this anxious and uncertain time. Take a moment to read the prayers of our community below and submit your own. We stand together, rooted in our own faiths, praying for healing and direction.
Prayer Wall
Please take a deep breath and quiet your thoughts.
Scroll through the below prayers, poems and scriptures as you are ready.
“Our God, and God of all Life,
We call you Oseh, Maker
Yotzer, Crafter
Poel, Worker.
You, Who labored to build this world in which we live
Who calls us to be Po’alei Tzedek, workers of justice —
We call to you
Be with all those who labor in the midst of this global pandemic.
Shelter those who grow our food in the field.
Guard those who bring healing in lab and clinic, in hospital and pharmacy.
Guide in peace those who deliver basic needs by road, track, and air.
Uplift those bent low bearing loads in manufacturing and sanitation.
Send love to those who connect us through wire, wave, and cable.
Provide companionship to those who work in solitude,
ease to those who work in anguish,
safety to those who step into harm’s way,
dignity to all whose labor benefits us.
As they raise up their souls to grant us all life
may we repay them in fairness and righteousness.
May our lawmakers and employers assure them a living wage,
health care and sick leave
education, documentation, citizenship
and the right to organize.
All the rights,
human and Divine
due to all beings
created in Your image.
And let us say: Amen”
“Pandemic
By Lynn Ungar
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
The poet is Unitarian Universalist. “We are atheists and Christians, Buddhists and Jews, agnostics and Hindus, who know that no metaphor or story of the holy is big enough to truly hold what is holy … We are people who value diversity: of opinion, of culture, of language, of life experience, of spiritual practice.” Her poem is being shared among Quakers as it “speaks to our condition” for many of us at this time.”
“An Interfaith Universal Prayer for Peace
We pause in quiet reflection to offer this prayer for a peaceful world. In our individual and personal ways, we call upon the Holy One who sustains our lives and who inspires us to live with compassion and kindness and peace. We ask for daily guidance in all of our personal relationships; in our work and play, and in our community involvement that we might model the possibilities of peace in everything we say and in everything we do. We pray for wisdom and compassion within the hearts and minds of all world leaders who have the power and the responsibility of making decisions that impact the presence of peace. We pray for courage, dedication, and integrity within the spirits of all those who work for peace around the world. We pray for all those who harbor thoughts and feelings of hatred, violence, and greed that their hearts and minds and souls will be transformed into Your likeness of compassion and kindness. We are thankful for Your presence within our lives and ask for Your blessing as we try to live peaceful lives and seek ways for all people to live in harmony and peace.”
“My prayer is people will come together in Thanksgiving and gratitude.”
Please click above for a special prayer from Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman, AFN Board Vice-President
Pastor James, First Church UCC, leads a guided meditation guided by the Tibetan Bell. Press play to watch above.
Click above to listen to a prayer from the Sikh tradition from AFN Board Member Sat Bir Kaur Khalsa.
“When great evil occurs, great good follows. - Nichiren
Human beings are inherently endowed with the power to bring out the best possible results from the worst possible circumstances. -Daisaku Ikeda”
“I pray we get to go out and play outside soon! I pray for fun, happiness, peace and love to be all around us! I pray for my family, friends and their family and our community to return to health and wellness! AMEN”
“This was a Shabbat benediction at the summer camp where I grew up. It later became the camp Seeds of Peace, which hosts Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Indian and Pakistani teens for the summer. The poem is now a graffiti mural in a sanctified space at the Seeds of Peace camp:
I met a stranger in the night
Whose lamp had ceased to shine
I paused
And let him light his lamp from mine.
A tempest sprang up later on
It shook the world about.
When the storm was gone
My lamp was out.
But back to me the stranger came.
His lamp was glowing fine.
He held to me his precious flame
And rekindled mine.”
“More connects us than separates us.
But in times of crisis the wise build bridges,
While the foolish build barriers.
We must find a way to look after one another
As if we were one single tribe. ( From the movie Black Panther/ quoted in a book by Barbara Holmes, Race and the Cosmos).”
“Blessed be! Blessed Be!”
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23a”
“Gracious Holy One, be with your children. Watch over your children. Live on through your children. Give us courage, hope, gratitude and above all, love. Amen.”
“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.
And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.
And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed. ”
“Khatum
Oh Thou, who art the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty,
The Lord of Heaven and Earth,
Open our hearts, that we may hear Thy voice,
Which constantly cometh from within.
Disclose to us Thy Divine Light,
Which is hidden in our souls,
That we may know and understand life better.
Most merciful and compassionate God,
Give us Thy great goodness;
Teach us Thy loving forgiveness;
Raise us above the distinctions and differences which divide;
Send us the peace of Thy divine spirit;
And unite us all in Thy Perfect Being.
Amin”
“Everyone Who’s Suffering.
May your love be strong in life
And strengthen the weak
And encourage the fearful
And calm the horrible storm
And pray for the suffering every day
As I join the priests to pray for the sick today
And Lord Jesus Christ keep me safe and warm
Sheltered from the coronavirus storm
And stay in my heart every day
And deliver us from evil in life
And glory to the heavenly Father
And God have mercy
And I promise I’ll love and
Pray for everyone who’s suffering
From coronavirus every day and
Lord Jesus Christ hear my prayer
Amen.”