Shall I Cry?

empty-heartThis is a prayer about the vastness of joy, love, friendship and care. I’ve selected this for day 36 of Counting the Omer, the Lovingkindness in Bonding, the Chesed of Yesod, because it’s about the dedication to finding deep and lasting love. It appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing, as well as Mishkan Aveilut from CCAR Press.

Shall I Cry?
Shall I cry at the last withered leaf of fall?
Or the lonely swallow?
Or my grieving heart?

Shall I mourn the past?
Protest the future?
Bury myself in these losses?
The leaving. The death.

Oh you sea of clouds.
Oh you curtain of rain.
Oh you silent yearning.
You arrive as messenger and guide,
Sent from the Source of healing,
The Source of radiance and wonder.

This soul cannot learn to love
In heaven, where only
The vast blue glory
Of light
Resides.

© 2012 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: See also: “Unlock Your Heart,” “This Stubborn Heart,” “Every Heart,” “My Heart Knows What it Needs,” “A Heart of Vision” and “A Heart that Hears.”

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Credit: Just Walk Away

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