People are Weeping, People Despair
A Prayer for Victims of Tsunami – A Prayer for the World

Olivia Holmes

by the Rev. Olivia Holmes
Director, UUA Office of International Relations

People are weeping, people despair
Fathers, mothers, boys and girls,
The old, the young, the in-between.
All have died, and all are lost
All are lost and all have lost - so very much
So very much and so very many.

People are weeping, people despair
There was no way to know that Sunday morning
That the earth and the sea would break so many lives
Across such a wide span of this our globe.

People are weeping, people despair
Yes, and those same people are bending their backs
To start rebuilding the lives they still share.
Shard by shard they clear the streets
Body by body they care for the dead
Soul by soul they struggle to live on
Not knowing when or whether food and water will come
Not knowing who or how many have died
Not knowing more about life than this moment,
At least, they are alive.

People are weeping, people despair
And people, one by one, are lending a hand
As best they can, however they can, wherever they can
And so must I; so must I.

Great Spirit of Life
On this day, let this be my simple prayer:

So must I. So must I.

>>Liturgical Resources for Reflection on the Indian Ocean Tsunami

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