Prayer in the Midst of AIDS
Almighty God, Father, Son and Spirit
We come to You as the Source of all that is good.
We stand before You as a church overwhelmed by HIV and AIDS, a church where there can no longer be a them and us, when
We pray for your gifts.
We come to You as the Source of life.
We stand before You as scientists and researchers seeking answers.
We pray for new ideas and open minds to find ways to protect and preserve life, from the ravages of the virus.
We come to You as the Source of light and wisdom.
We stand before you as a church with our darkness and our ignorance.
We pray for insight to respond to the moral ethical and human dilemmas, brought to the fore by the epidemic.
We come to You as the Source of peace.
We stand before you as communities torn apart by mistrust and stigma.
We pray for the ability to set aside our fear and embrace each other, in spite of our difficulties and differences.
We come to You as the Source of compassion.
We stand before you as a church full of apathy, a church that is absent in the life of those who suffer and those who care for them.
We pray for a new spirit and the will to step into the void.
We come to You as the Source of strength.
We stand before you as caregivers, medical staff and families with our fatigue, our tiredness, our despair when caring becomes too much.
We pray for support, for resources, for energy, to continue even when we think it is impossible.
We come to You as the Source of comfort.
We stand before you as people ill from the infections associated with AIDS, in pain, in discomfort, in isolation.
We pray for gentle hands to care for us, for effective medication to ease our symptoms, for loving communities to surround us.
But more than any of these, Lord,
We come to You as the Source of love.
We stand before you as people who have forgotten the meaning and the deeds of loving and being loved.
We pray for You to transform us, to renew us, and to teach us to be Christ to each other in the midst of HIV and AIDS.
Amen.
By Lyn van Rooyen at the Society for Practical Theology Annual Meeting 15 April 2005