Nick Fawcett (devotional and reflective writer)

Are you there?

Are you there in the death and destruction?
Are you there in the sorrow and pain?
Are you there as the bullets are flying,
as the missiles scream over Ukraine?

Are you there in the panic and terror,
in the desperate impulse to flee?
Are you there in the makeshift resistance,
risking all for their right just to be.

Are you there with the women and children,
with the menfolk conscripted to fight?
Are you there in the refugee shelters,
in this nation’s so desperate plight.

Are you there in the murder and mayhem,
in the bloodshed, destruction and death,
as innocent civilians are slaughtered,
as multitudes draw their last breath?

Are you there in the heartbreak and trauma?
In the thousands consumed by despair?
Will you show that you’re there to support them?
Won’t you offer some sign that you care?

Are you there in this merciless violence?
‘Can’t you help them?’ I ask, Lord, once more.
‘In your mercy, your love and your power,
bring an end to the horror of war.