Whenever senseless tragedy tempts me to think of God as unsafe, irrational, even irresponsible — ​“Why create free-willed beings, Lord, when you knew this was the cost?” — there is one thing that keeps me from despair, that keeps me wanting to pray: that God entered into a human body and knows what it means to suffer. As Richard Foster says in a letter on grief, God ​“stands with us in our agony and our perplexity and our confusion.”

This or any other theological truth doesn’t necessarily lessen the pain of those affected by tragedy, and never should any truth be offered to anyone grieving as a quick fix. (Richard’s letter offers helpful wisdom on what not to say to people when tragedy strikes.) But knowing God is with us in our suffering can at least draw us into prayer.

Even so, knowing what to pray in such times can be a challenge. That’s where written prayers can help, like ​“Liturgy for Grieving a National Tragedy” written by Douglas McKelvey. It begins:

O God who gathers what has been scattered,
Shelter us now in the shadow of your wings.
O Christ who binds our wounds,
Be our great healer.
O Spirit who enters our every grief,
Intercede now for this hurting people, in this broken land.
Read the rest of the prayer >