Posts Tagged ‘thanksgiving and praise’

 

Receiving Blessings

Posted on: December 29th, 2018 by Alden

This prayer is my blessing for you for 2019. It’s about opening our hearts to receiving blessings. In this New Year, may we bless each other and be open to being blessed. This prayer appears in my new book, This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Receiving Blessings
Ancient One,
Open my heart to receive
The blessings around me,
Kindness and wisdom,
Friendship and understanding,
Tenderness and compassion,
Moments of holiness,
Messages from heaven.

Source and Shelter,
Why can’t I bless others
With the fullness of my being
With joy and thanksgiving,
From a hope for healing
And a pulse of love,
To fill the world with benedictions?

Rock and Redeemer,
Grant me the ability to see and to hear
The blessings around me,
A fountain of love
To fill my soul
With gratitude and courage,
With joy and peace.

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

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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: The Poached Egg

Umbrella of Blessings

Posted on: December 5th, 2013 by Alden

blessingsHere’s a prayer in praise of G-d’s blessings. Why? By remembering the blessings around me – the blessings around my friends and family – my sight becomes clearer. Small annoyances vanish. Core fears fade. The light around becomes radiant. Even sadness and grief take on a new form, a new meaning, a new form of holiness. This is a companion to a prayer called “Receiving Blessings,” a prayer to see and receive the blessings around us.

Umbrella of Blessings
G-d of mystery,
G-d of wonder,
Your word is an umbrella of blessing,
Your wisdom a canopy of holiness and light,
A shelter of awe and wonder.

Ancient One,
Let Your blessings protect the strong
And lift the humble,
They guard the joyous
And they support the grieving,
They guide the hopeful
And raise the downcast.

Your tent is the arch of the heavens.
Your drape is the firmament of sky.
Your blessings quench our thirst,
Feed the land,
Fill our hearts,
Bring hope and healing.

Blessed are You, Ancient One,
You cover our lives with an umbrella of blessings,
Filling our days with joy and thanksgiving.

© 2013 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript:  Here are prayers with a similar theme: “Receiving Blessings,” “Garden of Blessings,” “An Amazing Life,” “These Blessings” and “Unlock Your Heart.”

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. If you like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Photo Source: Jen Martin Spirituality

Receiving Blessings

Posted on: July 31st, 2013 by tobendlight

you are blessedThis prayer is about opening my heart to receive blessings. Why? For me, it is easier to bless than to accept the blessings of others. Even with years of writing gratitude lists, even though I know that life is a “Garden of Blessings,” fully taking in a compliment, a good word or a blessing is still a challenge, something I must practice. So, with this prayer I ask for G-d’s help in receiving blessings.

Receiving Blessings
Ancient One,
Open my heart to receive
The blessings around me,
Kindness and wisdom,
Friendship and understanding,
Tenderness and compassion,
Moments of holiness,
Messages from heaven.

Source and Shelter,
Why can I bless others
With the fullness of my being
With joy and thanksgiving,
But struggle to be blessed?
To release my heart?
To take in these gifts?

Rock and Redeemer,
Grant me the ability to see and to hear
The blessings around me,
A fountain of love
To fill my soul
With gratitude and courage,
With joy and peace.

© 2013 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Here are prayers with a similar theme: “An Amazing Life,” “These Blessings” and “Unlock Your Heart.”

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. Please take a moment to explore my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Source: The Poached Egg

Modeh Ani

Posted on: May 19th, 2013 by tobendlight

Shema_L_medHere’s a new meditation based on a line of Jewish prayer. I’ve taken the prayer said on waking up, Modeh Ani, and created a ‘loop’ by shifting and replacing three words: ‘soul,’ ‘love’ and ‘trust.’ As the verses progress, the first of these words moves out and the other two move over to fill the empty spot, with a new word entering in the last position. The loop completes when the three original words prayer reenter one-by-one until the line is restored.

Modeh Ani
מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקיים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתך
Modeh (modah) ani lifanekha melekh ḥai v’kayam sheheḥezarta bi nishmahti b’ḥemlah, rabah emunatekha.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my soul with love
Filled with Your eternal trust.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my love with trust
Filled with Your eternal hope.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my trust with hope
Filled with Your eternal kindness.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my hope with kindness
Filled with Your eternal justice.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my kindness with justice
Filled with Your eternal mercy.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my justice with mercy
Filled with Your eternal peace.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my mercy with peace
Filled with Your eternal soul.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my peace with soul
Filled with Your eternal love.

I thank You, G-d,
Creator of life, Eternal One,
For restoring my soul with love
Filled with Your eternal trust.

© 2013 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: I’ve used the same technique of shifting and replacing words in another prayer “For Devotion” which begins with the line “O Lord, open You my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise” (Psalms 51:17). This line is used to set the intention for devotion in prayer before reciting the Amidah. See also: “Affirmation of Faith” and “Gathering: A Dream of Reunion.”

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Photo Source: LadyMama.org

Planting Seeds

Posted on: June 13th, 2012 by tobendlight

This prayer recognizes that everything we do has the potential to heal or to harm. So we ask for G-d’s help to plant seeds of holiness with each word, each act, each deed.

Planting Seeds
Every act is a seed:
Every laugh, every smile.
Every song, every dance.
Every outstretched arm
And every open heart.
A seed of holiness.
A seed of redemption.
A seed of grace.

Every act is a seed:
Every frown, every angry word.
Every dislike, every distain.
Every closed fist,
And every hardened heart.
A seed of loneliness.
A seed of isolation.
A seed of despair.

How many seeds have I planted,
G-d of Old,
Seeds that hurt,
Seeds that heal?
How many seeds have I yet to plant,
Seeds that hurt,
Seeds that heal?

Ancient One,
Grant me the discernment
And the skill
To plant seeds of wonder and awe
In my life and the world.
Let me be a source of wholeness,
Let me be a source of thanksgiving,
So that my life yields
A garden of blessings
In service to Your Holy Name.

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

Postscript: Here are several other prayers that use the ‘seeds’ metaphor: “Messengers,” “For New Love” and “I Am a King: A Meditation for Men.” Here are prayers that employ a ‘garden’ metaphor: “Life as a Garden,” “Garden of Blessings,” “For Spring,” “Meditation on a Child’s First Torah Reading” and “For Rain.”

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks. Please subscribe. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see Share the Prayer!

Garden of Blessings

Posted on: June 6th, 2012 by tobendlight

NRCSIA99587.tifWe live in G-d’s garden, G-d’s world, G-d’s universe. It is a garden of blessings.

Garden of Blessings
Holy One,
G-d of Creation,
Source of Light,
Fountain of Wonder,
Life is a garden of blessings,
Alive with beauty,
Nourished by the holiness of Your Word,
Fed by the love of Your People.

Ancient One,
Your garden blooms with joys and sorrows,
With hopes and yearnings,
In the warmth of mercy,
In the breath of faith.

As for me,
G-d of Old,
Grant me the wisdom
To walk these paths gently,
With awe and thanksgiving,
In times of rejoicing
And in moments of despair.
Let me see Your glory in all that is,
All that was
And all that will be.
Then I will be like a flower
That always blooms,
Fresh and new,
In service to Your Holy Name.

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

Postscript: Here are other prayers that employ a ‘garden’ metaphor: “For Spring,” “Meditation on a Child’s First Torah Reading,” “For Rain” and “Life as a Garden.” Here are prayers that use a ‘seeds’ metaphor: “Messengers,” “For New Love” and “I Am a King: A Meditation for Men.”

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: USDA NRSA Photo Gallery

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