Posts Tagged ‘creation’

 

One You

Posted on: April 25th, 2021 by Alden

A meditation on the vastness of creation and the uniqueness of each and every soul. This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

One You
Love
Is a bridge
To the moment of creation,
The moment
When G-d’s heart
Could no longer be contained,
When light exploded
In a big bang,
Creating billions and
Billions of stars,
Millions and
Millions of galaxies,
Planets, moons,
Solar systems without number,
And one,
Only one,
You.

Yes,
You are
The impossible
Yet here-you-are
Miracle of love.
The impossible
Yet here-you-are
Miracle of life.
The impossible
Yet here-you-are
Miracle of G-d’s
Loving hand
And outstretched arm,
Created in the same instant that
Holiness, mercy, beauty, goodness,
Righteousness and grace,
Began to expand
Throughout the universe.

© 2021 CCAR Press from This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer

Please check out my CCAR Press Grateful/Joyous/Precious trilogy. The individual books are: This Joyous Soul , This Grateful Heart, and This Precious Life. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines, 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. For a taste of my teaching, see my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer.”

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Photo Source: NASA

Before the Beginning

Posted on: January 12th, 2020 by Alden

A brief meditation inspired by the opening five lines of Torah, Gen. 1:1-5, the first day of creation, and, perhaps, the moments in which G-d alone imagined the world before the beginning. This appears in my new book, This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer

Before the Beginning
From eternity,
From the place beyond the highest heavens,
Where stillness is motion
And motion is stillness,
Where nothing and everything meet,
Where time and timelessness are one,
G-d imagined a universe
In which existence
Could only begin
By first
Creating light.

.ויהי-ערב ויהי-בקר, יום אחד
Viyhi erev, vivhi voker, yom echad.
And there was
Evening and there was
Morning.
A first day.

© 2021 CCAR Press from This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer

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Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and my two CCAR Press books: This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings 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 Source: Alden Solovy

Creation Sings

Posted on: September 7th, 2018 by Alden

Legend says that God created the world on Rosh Hashanah. So, Rosh Hashanah is not only the first day of the New Year and the Day of Judgement, it’s also marks the creation of all. For this new year, Cantor Erin Frankel of Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia, enlisted me and her musical collaborator AJ Luca write a new song celebrating creation using words from the High Holiday prayer, HaYom Harat Olam. Here’s a music video of the song, performed by Erin and AJ.

Creation Sings
Lyrics: Alden Solovy
Music: Cantor Erin Frankel, AJ Luca

Then the sun rose,
For the first time,
To warm the land,
To warm our hearts,
To warm our hands.

Tides shifting,
Birds winging,
Flowers bursting,
Clouds drifting,
Eden singing.

And light sparkled,
The heavens shimmered,
While love echoed,
The future glimmered.

היום הרת עולם
היום הרת עולם
Hayom Harat Olam.
Hayom Harat Olam.

Today the birthday of the world.
Today is the birthday of our world.

Let the sun rise,
On a new day,
To warm the land,
To warm our hearts,
To warm our hands.

Light still sparkles,
From creation,
Love still echoes,
The world’s foundation.

היום הרת עולם
היום הרת עולם
Hayom Harat Olam.
Hayom Harat Olam.

Today the birthday of the world.
Today is the birthday of our world.

So these hours
Of introspection,
And these moments
Of deep reflection,
Will bring us back
To G-d’s creation,
And lift our hearts,
With jubilation.

היום הרת עולם
היום הרת עולם
Hayom Harat Olam.
Hayom Harat Olam.

Today the birthday of the world.
Today is the birthday of the world.

Lyrics © 2018 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.
Music © 2018 Erin Frankel and AJ Luca. All rights reserved.

Postscript: With my deep love and affection for Erin and AJ. In friendship with the clergy team at Congregation Rodeph Shalom — Erin, Rabbi Jill Maderer and Rabbi Eli Freedman — and gratitude for their ongoing support of my work. In appreciation of the Lee Stanley Music Fund for making the music and the video possible

New here? Subscribe here to get my newest prayers by email.
Share the prayer! Email this to a friend.

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 Source: Congregation Rodeph Shalom

The Pulse of Holiness

Posted on: December 28th, 2017 by Alden

Yesterday, in the early morning, two ideas drifted in and out of my consciousness as I drifted in and out of sleep. Love, and holiness. After waking, this is what I wrote.

The Pulse of Holiness
The love
That echoes love
That whispers love
That breathes love
In the quiet stillness of morning
Is leading you toward light,
Toward understanding,
Toward G-d.
For love is the pulse of holiness,
The beating heart of radiance and wonder,
The rhythm of creation,
The energy of blessing,
The starburst of the divine.

The love
That echoes in your heart
Resonates eternal
With all beings,
With all souls,
With the wisdom of the ages,
And the wisdom of the earth.

Yes, love is the pulse of holiness.
Let it flow through you.
Let your countenance shine majesty
From the core of your being
To the edge of the universe,
To fill the world
With splendor.

© 2017 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: See also, “Evidence of Holiness.

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 Source: NASA

Emor: Your Name: Meditation at Dusk

Posted on: April 29th, 2015 by Alden

Alden and the KinnertIn Parashat Emor, in one amazing line, we are given twin injunctions: one against profaning G-d’s name (chillul hashem) and the other to sanctity G-d’s name (kiddush hashem). This prayer is about sanctifying G-d’s name according to the blessings we receive. It appears in my book, This Grateful Heart: Psalms and  Prayers For a New Day.

Your Name: Meditation at Dusk
G-d of Old,
Your name is Peace.
Your name is Justice.
Your name is Mercy.

G-d of Life,
Your name is Compassion.
Your name is Love.
Your name is Hope.

G-d of Blessing,
Your name is Truth.
Your name is Wisdom.
Your name is Righteousness.

G-d of our fathers,
G-d of our mothers,
Your name is in my heart
And before my eyes.

Blessed are You Adonai,
Your name shines throughout creation.

“Your Name: Meditation at Dusk” is © 2017 CCAR Press. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This prayer first appeared on this site on July 14, 2011. I also used it for Va’eira 5773. The photo of me praying near the Kinneret was taking during the 2105 Tsad Kadima Hike for Hope by my friend Marc Render. Please check out “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” Other prayers of praise include: “Dance Hallelujah,” “Sing Hallelujah” and “In Praise.”

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: Marc Render

Va’eira: Your Name, Meditation at Dusk

Posted on: January 11th, 2013 by tobendlight

“And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him: ‘I am the LORD, and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as G-d Almighty, but by My name Adonai I made Me not known to them.’” – Exodus 6:2-3

From Torah we learn that we can begin to know and understand G-d through the revelation G-d’s Holy Names. This prayer is about naming G-d according to the blessings we receive. It appears in my book, This Grateful Heart: Psalms and  Prayers For a New Day.

Your Name: Meditation at Dusk
G-d of Old,
Your name is Peace.
Your name is Justice.
Your name is Mercy.

G-d of Life,
Your name is Compassion.
Your name is Love.
Your name is Hope.

G-d of Blessing,
Your name is Truth.
Your name is Wisdom.
Your name is Righteousness.

G-d of our fathers,
G-d of our mothers,
Your Name is in my heart
And before my eyes.

Blessed are You Adonai,
Your name shines throughout creation.

“Your Name: Meditation at Dusk” is © 2017 CCAR Press. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Here’s a prayer “For Prayer” that evokes G-d’s Name. My other prayers of praise include: “Dance Hallelujah,” “Sing Hallelujah” and “In Praise.” This prayer was first posted on July 14, 2011, as “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk.”

Please check out my Meet the Author video and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers For a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!

Photo Credit: TheTorah.com

Every Beginning

Posted on: December 9th, 2012 by tobendlight

BeginningHere’s prayer/poem that celebrates both love and loss as essential elements of our lives. This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Every Beginning
Every beginning brings an ending.
Every ending brings a beginning.

Ancient One,
This is the joy and the grief,
The plenty and the famine,
The dance and the dirge
Of life
Alive and awake
In Your world.

How wonderful is this living?
How glorious the light from heaven?
How stunning the radiance that surrounds you
My beloved,
Holy and new, luminous with wonder?
How marvelous this place where earth and sky touch?

How strange is this dying?
How melancholy that one day we will
No longer hear sweet voices,
See sweet faces,
Share whispers and secrets,
Laughter and heartbreak?
How much more, my darlings,
Should we love today?
How much more, my children,
Should we savor and rejoice?

Every beginning brings an ending.
Every ending brings a beginning.
Blessed is G-d’s Holy Name.

© 2019 CCAR Press from This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings

Postscript: Here are two of my favorite prayers about the spiritual journey: “Messengers” and “On the Trail.” Click here for more meditations in the voice of the Spiritual Traveler.

For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. Connect with To Bend Light on Facebook and on Twitter.

Photo Credit: Hasseblad

Breisheit: For Creation

Posted on: October 8th, 2012 by tobendlight

Park TimnaThis is a simple prayer to remember the majesty of G-d’s creation. It’s the first of a series of prayers and poems tied to the parasha of the week. Some, like this one, will be repostings because the particular piece fits with the Torah reading. Others will be new pieces. To listen as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows. This piece appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

 

For Creation
Author of life,
Architect of creation,
Artist of earth,
Your works declare Your Holy Name.

Mighty rivers,
Turbulent seas,
Towering mountains,
Rolling hills,
Vast spaces of brilliance and grandeur.

You created pallet and paint,
Color and hue,
Shape and form,
Abundant and beautiful,
Glorious and majestic,
Full of mystery and wonder.

Blessed are You,
With divine love You created a world of splendor.

© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day

Postscript: Other prayers about creation include: “To Know Your Word” and “About the Rainbow.” This piece was originally posted November 28, 2010.

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: Alden Solovy

Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk

Posted on: July 14th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer is about naming G-d according to the blessings we receive. It’s another in my series of “quick prayers,” including: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” The irony is this: the more time I take thinking about the words of this particular prayer, the more gratitude I receive.

To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk
G-d of Old,
Your name is Peace.
Your name is Justice.
Your name is Mercy.

G-d of Life,
Your name is Compassion.
Your name is Love.
Your name is Hope.

G-d of Blessing,
Your name is Truth.
Your name is Wisdom.
Your name is Righteousness.

G-d of our fathers,
G-d of our mothers,
Your name is in my heart
And before my eyes.

Blessed are You Adonai,
Your name shines throughout creation.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Please check out “ “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” Other prayers of praise include: “Dance Hallelujah,” “Sing Hallelujah” and “In Praise.”

Please use these prayers. See “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column. For notices of new prayers posted here, please subscribe. To read four to six mini-prayers each week, as well as notices of new prayers posted to the site, please join the To Bend Light fan page on Facebook.

About the Heavens

Posted on: December 18th, 2010 by tobendlight

Helix NebulaThis is a brief meditation from a series of prayer/poems written in one of the many voices of the spiritual traveler. This is the voice of the one who has a question that doesn’t need an answer. We marvel at G-d’s gifts and wonder about the unknowable. The series includes: “About the Rainbow” and “About Shabbat.”

About the Heavens
Majestic Sovereign,
Artist of creation,
Why did You put the stars
Beyond our grasp?
Was it Your desire
To keep us searching the heavens
For luminous spirals,
Shimmering clouds,
Rings of glorious light?
Was this Your plan,
To summon us
To reach across the vastness
With hope and desire?
Or perhaps
Once You created the canvass of sky,
Once You took out Your watercolors,
Your oils,
Your charcoals,
Your pencils,
Your palette,
You couldn’t resist
The urge
To paint.

© 2010 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

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: Space.com

“Alden has become one of Reform Judaism’s master poet-liturgists…" - Religion News Service, Dec. 23, 2020

“Mesmerizing, spiritual, provocative, and thoughtful, Alden was everything you would want in a guest scholar and teacher.” – Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Congregation Kol Ami, Los Angeles, and Past President, CCAR

"Alden Solovy has become one of the most revered liturgists of the last decade…" - Jewish Post & Opinion, March 29, 2023

“Alden left everyone feeling inspired.” – Cantor Jeri Robins, Shabbat Chair, NewCAJE6