A Prayer For The Dying

 I had something else planned for today, but I think a lament for the victims of the midair collision at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, is more appropriate.

A long time ago I collided with powerlines while flying a light aeroplane. While both the aeroplane and I were damaged, we remained flyable, and I had a chance to think about things on the way to a safe but weird landing at a local airfield.

The video footage I have seen makes it unlikely that anyone survived, and I pray the grace of God covered the victims with numbness as they fell from the sky. Last moments of clarity really, really suck.

Please close the eyes and minds and hearts

of those about to die

as the hold on life departs 

against a darkling sky.

Let not sharp fear be their embrace

in this last and worst of harms;

I pray they see Your smiling Face,

safe now in Your arms,

carried through the shining gates

and on the streets of gold

where a multitude awaits,

a warmth that fades the Earthly cold

and clothes them in garments that shine

which mark them as forever Thine.

Music from James Taylor, with Fire And Rain 

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is SECOND.

How much fits into a second,

can we really know?

Is it what we've always reckoned,

or is there something deep below

the pass of time that we assume,

the clock's infernal ticking?

Is there some possible room

for us to be picking 

the way we follow the broad stream

of God's river of will?

Is this viewpoint too extreme,

or is there somewhere a calm still

pool of beauty and time's grace

in which we see God's changeless face?

Sylvia admits that some things are beyond ice cream's power, and require God

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