Prayer for our Children and Young People who have Died

Rainbows appear only on dreary, rainy days.
They beautify the world
for a few brief moments.
These moments, however, can be spectacular.

You were our brief rainbow.
You entered our lives and stayed for a short precious while.
Nonetheless, the memories of those moments
when you blessed us with delight and joy,
beauty and gaiety,
happiness and sunlight and moonbeams
are treasured memories for us.

Having had our treasured children with us
made the tears of pain and anger,
helplessness and fear,
sadness and heartbreak,
emptiness, and loneliness—- bearable.

Rainbows, however brief, make the world a brighter, lovelier place.
How grateful we are that we had them,
Our Children, Our brief rainbows.