A Prayer for All the Pain That Goes Unnoticed

God, let's be honest—this year is off the rails.
We hardly need remind You.
But, Christ, there's so much pain.
Pain that has gone unseen, unnoticed, unwept for.
So we lift up our prayer for all the forgotten sufferers,
The invisible pain, the sorrow too raw for memes.

For those

Who cannot make a friend (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who cannot make a child (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who cannot keep their faith (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who cannot pay their bills (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who cannot stop their child from screaming (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who cannot find someone who loves them (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who feel sorrow that their loved ones would vote that way (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who feel shame about the things they meant to do (or meant not to do) but failed (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who cannot seem to get a good night's sleep (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who are standing up for what is right and are being ridiculed (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who have lost friends for believing in something (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who chronically suffer (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who lost loved ones for loving someone they weren't supposed to love (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who have their rights decided on by strangers on a court (Lord, hear our prayer)

Who seem to be never mentioned in prayers like these (Lord, hear our prayer)

Christ, we believe that in You all things consist
and hold together.
We believe that You will never intervene—
You were always here to begin with.

Spirit, sometimes I think You were foolish,
Making my body Your temple,
Because that means that You not only inhabit me,
But You also inhabit my pain.
But Your foolishness grants me hope
That while I'm lonely, I'm never alone.
Amen.