God of Wind and Flame

God of Wind and Flame,

We pray in sorrow and distress for all of Los Angeles, named for your divine messengers.

We pray for the dead, their numbers increasing, many of whom died alone, terrified, in unimaginable pain. Give them peace and bring them home to You.

We pray for the living: those fleeing the path of fire as they grab what they can, those sheltering who they can, those putting themselves in harm’s way to fight fire and rescue people, property, beauty, history.

We pray for those who have lost something and those who have lost everything. Give them what they need for this moment: safety, shelter, clean air to breathe and a place to rest as they get ready to rebuild or migrate. Send them human angels for mutual love and mutual aid.

We pray for the animals: elderly corgis and parakeets, coyotes and pumas, those burned out, those burned, and those sheltered but separated from their families. We pray for all creation: the trees, the soil, the air, poisoned by conflagration. Restore it all to Eden, eventually.

We pray for our nation, that we might be a people who throw water on the flames of hate and blame. May we build up rather than tear down, encourage and unite in the face of disasters natural and unnatural. We believe most people are good, and that situations like this bring out the very best in us: the heroic, the compassionate, the self-sacrificing. We pray for those whose first instinct is to vilify, lie and amplify hate, that their hearts might be turned toward good.

We repent how we have contributed to this hellfire spawned by the climate crisis. We are a people always hungry for more, for ease, willfully ignorant or defiantly blithe as the earth grows hotter and drier because of our insatiable desires.

When fire and flame is invoked in our holy scriptures, You say we will pass through it unscathed. It is not so today. But we know you didn’t send this fire. And we also pray you will use it, to call us to repentance, to awaken us to our impact, to ignite our sense of responsibility to turn down the heat, co-creators with You and stewards of this singular, blue, beautiful planet Earth.

Amen.