This is a new meditation on a sudden and unexpected encounter with the Divine. And a quick personal note: Friends, I’ve been working on book, music, and other projects and have not consistently posted new prayer / poems here as I have in the past. My plan, moving forward, is to return to being more consistent with sharing new work with you. Thanks for your understanding.
I Walked with God
For a fraction
Of a fraction
Of a moment,
I walked with You.
It began
And ended
So quickly
That it was gone
Before I felt
Your presence.
How is that fair?
How is that kind?
To answer my yearning
With desire.
To answer my longing
With emptiness.
To leave me with only
A shadow of a memory.
To wonder what
Could have been
If I was ready
For You.
Or maybe,
Just maybe,
You are asking
Me to remember,
To always remember,
How close
We can be.
© 2023 Alden Solovy and ToBendLight
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Postscript: I previously posted a preview of this meditation on a Facebook thread. After my friend and teacher, Rabbi Dov Laiman, wondered if even the briefest encounter with the divine should be a source joy, rather than disappointment, I added the last seven lines.
Please check out These Words: Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah and my other CCAR Press volumes: This Grateful Heart, This Joyous Soul, and This Precious Life, which can also be purchased as the Grateful/Joyous/Precious trilogy. 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 by Alden Solovy
Tags: blessing, faith, life, redemption, spirit