Here’s another new coronavirus prayer, to help support and encourage you during the continuing crisis.
Lord,
we stand outside week by week,
applauding essential workers in this time of crisis,
acknowledging their vital contribution to society –
not just nurses and NHS staff,
but countless care workers too,
and innumerable others who have contributed to our welfare,
saving us from total chaos.
We praise them,
laud them,
extol them,
and at the same time moves are made to exclude them in years to come,
to keep out migrant labour,
despite us in so many cases depending on their work to maintain services.
Forgive the crass hypocrisy,
the proclaiming of one thing yet doing quite another;
the glib declaration that we value these people
that is too often denied by the wages we pay
and the prejudice we show.
We talk about indebtedness,
of how grateful we are,
and how much we owe to the few.
Help us truly to believe it,
and to show the truth of that,
not simply in gestures,
but in meaningful word and deed.
Amen.