World Prayer for Boston

By George Payne

Dear God, have mercy on Lu Lingzi, her family, the people of China, and the entire Boston University community. Have mercy on Martin Richards, Martin’s parents, Bill and Denise, and sister, Jane. Have mercy on Krystle Campbell, her father, William Campbell, and her grandmother, Lillian Campbell. Have mercy on MIT officer Sean Collier, and all who loved him. Have mercy on the 27, 000 runners who crossed the finish line, the 400,000 spectators, and the millions of viewers who watched the race on TV, the Internet, and cell phones all over the world. Have mercy on people who took shrapnel on Kenmore Square and Boylston Street, and those who had legs and arms ripped from their bodies in the twin blasts packed with nails and ball bearings. Be with the medics, trauma care physicians, EMTs, the Boston Police Department, the Boston Fire Department and anyone who held and sometimes stopped the bleeding that day. Have mercy on the ambulance drivers, paramedics, doctors and nurses at Boston City Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Have mercy on councilors, therapists, chaplains, imams, priests, rabbis, pastors, youth workers and educators. Have mercy on funeral directors, morticians, pall bearers and gravediggers. Be with Muslim- Americans. Be with Russians and Chechens. Have mercy on Anzor Tsarnaev, Zubeidat Tsarnaev and Ruslan Tsarni. Be with the teachers, coaches and staff members of Cambridge Rindge and Latin, UMass Dartmouth, and Bunker Hill Community College. Have mercy on the reporters, news anchors, journalists and bloggers assigned to cover this senseless carnage. Be with the designers, factory workers, truckers, retailers, salespersons and cashiers that helped to produce and distribute the parts that went into constructing the bombs. Be with the crime scene investigators, enlisted ATF, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Massachusetts National Guard, Massachusetts State Police, and Watertown Police. Have mercy on the man who owns the boat that became an entombed hideout. Have mercy on President Obama, the U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives, the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Boston City Council. Be with children who do not understand despair but feel its soul shattering effects. Have mercy on veterans who understand despair but no longer believe in a soul to be shattered. Be with the murdered innocents of hellfire missiles from drone strikes over the skies of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Have mercy on every living being that breathes life into this painful world. Have mercy, even on these two confused and hate fueled brothers, who made the tragic mistake of believing that violence has a purpose other than to heal.