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Archive for the ‘Gratitude’ Category

Prayer of Gratitude

Posted on: March 20th, 2013 by tobendlight

This is another in my series of meditations for use when prayer time is brief, like waiting in line at the grocery story or when your in a car stopped at a red light. The series now includes eight prayers. This prayer will appear in my forthcoming book, which has yet to be given a title.

Prayer of Gratitude
Today is a gift,
Oh my G-d,
To know Your world,
To receive Your blessings.

Rock of Ages,
Your works surround us,
Daily signs of awe and wonder,
Daily guides to joy and service.
Bless me with hands of strength,
A heart of courage,
A mind of understanding.
Bless me with a voice of praises,
A life of gratitude,
Days filled with hope and love.

Postscript: Here’s a link to “Quick Prayer for Healing.”

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: Women of Faith

We Are Music

Posted on: February 6th, 2013 by tobendlight

This prayer/poem is about embodying the music of life and hearing the music created when we move in and out of moments together. It’s my second incorporating instructions to the reader into the prayer. The first is called “Invitations.” This appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

We Are Music
Quiet now.
Listen.
Breathe.
And listen.

You are music.
Your breath and hands,
Your smile and tears,
Your eyes and pulse,
Are notes that dance
In the space between us.

We are music.
A symphony conducted
By the rhythm of life,
By G-d’s hand,
By our choices, day-by-day.

Our notes play on,
Separately, together,
The sacred sound of living.
Our music waltzes,
Making melodies fresh and new,
Never heard again,
Bass lines that pulse from our hearts
To the Soul of the Universe.

Joy bends sorrow.
Sorrow bends hope.
Hope bends grief.
Grief bends love.
Love bends joy.

Quiet now.
Listen.
Breathe.
And listen.

The silence is your longing.
The silence is your yearning for a different song.
The music of your own will
Blocks your heart to the harmonies
Already dancing around you,
To the chorus already singing around you.

Oh, you hidden delight of heaven.
Oh, you secret gift of G-d.
We are music.
We are music.
The music plays
Through us.

Postscript: Please see also: “Life as a Symphony,” “Invitations,” “For the Gift of Song” and “For the Gift of Music.”

Photo Credit: Picks and Sticks Music

Beshalach 5773: Dance Hallelujah

Posted on: January 24th, 2013 by tobendlight

“Miriam, the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women came out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam called out to them, ‘Sing to the Lord, for G-d is very exalted; horse and rider G-d cast into the sea.’ ” – Exodus 15:20-21

For Jews, dancing is an expression of our love for G-d, our joy in G-d’s love for us and in gratitude for G-d’s gifts. Dancing is in our DNA. It’s what we do. It’s what we have always done. It’s what we will continue to do. This prayer appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Dance Hallelujah
Hallelujah
A dance of wonder,
A dance of joy and thanksgiving.
Arms raised, hands to the sky.
Feet solid, connected to earth.
A step, a bend, a twirl, a leap.
A breath of light,
A stream of color,
Spinning toward radiance and splendor.

Let my feet lead me toward Your holy realm.
Let my legs carry me toward Your divine word.
Let my arms lift praises toward Your marvelous works.
Let my body exclaim the power of Your awesome ways.

Hallelujah
A dance of light and love,
A dance of energy and endurance,
A dance of humility and grace.

G-d of Miriam,
Prophet who danced by the sea,
Teach me the dance of awe and mystery,
Of devotion and ecstasy,
Of passion and praise.
Teach me to dance my Hallelujah.
Teach me to live my Hallelujah.
A dance of radiance,
A dance of splendor,
A dance of peace.

Postscript: Here are links to related prayers: “Sing Hallelujah,” “For the Gift of Song,” “For the Gift of Dance” and “For the Gift of Music.” This prayer first appeared on this site on November 21, 2010.

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Photo Credit: Anna Kocherovsky Tapestry Studio

Vayetze 5773: A Moment of Love

Posted on: November 25th, 2012 by tobendlight

“…Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she tended them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.” – Genesis 29:9-11

After he sees Rachel, Jacob opens the well for her flock, a feat of great strength, and he opens his heart fully: a lesson in love from the third generation of our fathers and mothers.

A Moment of Love
Love is a well of strength,
A river of hope,
A fountain of holiness,
A moment for tears.

Love is in our arms,
In our hearts,
In our voices,
And in our eyes.

G-d of our mothers,
Let me be like she
Who tends the flocks,
Bringing them safely
To the waters.

G-d of our fathers,
Let me be like he
Who opens the source
Of blessing
To our lives together.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Creator of life and love.

Postscript: My other prayers about love include: “Let Love,” “The Cut That Heals,” “For New Love,” “To Seek Your Love” and “A Heart of Love.”

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 Credit: Chabad Jewish Center of Massachusetts.

Upon Gaining Employment

Posted on: June 28th, 2012 by tobendlight

In the next few days I will sign a contract to work for an Israeli health information technology company. I started work two weeks ago. For those who don’t know, the work week here in Israel is Sunday to Thursday. I’ll be commuting to Tel Aviv about two days each week and working from my apartment in Jerusalem the other days. And there will be some travel to the U.S. I am grateful for this opportunity.

Upon Gaining Employment
G-d on high,
With gratitude I begin a new job,
A new opportunity to contribute,
A new chance to provide for my well-being
And the well-being of my family.
Let me use this gift for good
In service to others
And Your Holy Name.

Remember the poor and the homeless,
The needy and the unemployed,
So that they find dignity and fulfillment
In the works of their hands
And the works of their minds.
For I once stood in the shadow of fear and loss
When my employment ended.
Bless all who are jobless with a livelihood
So that they know health and happiness,
Security and peace.

Source of goodness and life,
Grant me success on this new path
And prosperity in all my endeavors.
May this be an opportunity to learn and to grow,
In the joy of fruitful labor.

Blessed are You,
G-d of bounty and grace,
Who has seen me through my hour of need
And brought me the gift of work.

Postscript: Here’s a prayer to be said “Upon Losing Employment” and a prayer “For Work.” See also: “Against Worker Exploitation,” it’s one of my prayers for social justice.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Being Present

Posted on: May 30th, 2012 by tobendlight

Here’s a prayer about living fully, being present in the moment. This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Being Present
G-d, help me live this day
In a way that draws Your favor,
That summons
Your gifts and Your blessings,
That attracts holiness and light.

Give me courage and strength,
Hope and understanding.

Help me to be present in my life.
Help me be present in my day.
Help me be present for others.
Help me be present for myself.

Let me live awake and aware,
Vital and energetic,
Casting off the chains of doubt and fear.

G-d of hidden worlds,
G-d of secret realms,
G-d of trial and triumph,
You have given me moments and choices,
Hours and opportunities,
Days to build
And days to renew.
Let me live this day with wisdom,
Awake to the moments of healing,
Dedicating my hands and my heart
To the work of creation.

And Your gifts will appear quietly,
Gently,
Sweet like morning dew
To refresh my heart.

Postscript: This prayer echoes the themes of my three-part meditation about the rhythm and flow of life. These meditations are written to be recited in order: “Leaving,” “Arriving” and “Now.”

Photo credit: Vionnaswatching

Messengers

Posted on: February 17th, 2012 by tobendlight

This is a prayer about those people we meet along the way who are reminders of how G-d wants us to live, with outstretched hands and open hearts. This prayer echoes the themes of kindness from strangers and service to others found in several of my prayers, poems and meditations. Here are two of them: On the Road” and “For Service.” This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Messengers
G-d of awe and wonder,
Your messengers are all around,
Leading us on Your path,
Guiding us to joy and love.
Open my eyes to the teachers in our midst,
Leading us to Torah and chesed,
Righteousness and charity,
With their kindness and their gentle deeds.
Open my heart to know and to understand their ways,
Their joy in service to You
Through their service to others,
So that I may become
A source of Your blessings.

Holy One,
Well of Mercy,
Praise to You in heaven and on earth.
Praise for Your messengers among us.
Praise for the Sabbath of our days.
Praise for the Sabbath of our hearts.

Blessed are You, Rock of generations,
Source of All Being,
You plant the seeds
Of holiness among us.

Postscript: See also: “On the Road” and “For Service.”

Photo Source: Israel Seen

Shabbat Shira: For the Gift of Music

Posted on: December 5th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a short and sweet prayer about music reposted today in gratitude for a fantastic weekend at OSRUI, the musical retreat Shabbat Shira. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For the Gift of Music
G-d, we give thanks for the gift of music,
For horn and flute,
For strings and drums,
For crescendo and staccato,
For the gift that gives our spirits a divine voice.
Hear this prayer for those who write music, arranging sound, seeking beauty.
Hear this prayer for those who play music, creating sound, releasing beauty.
Make their music Your vessel.
Let heaven pour joy and sorrow, love and loss through them
So that they overflow with Your most secret prayers for Your people,
Drawing others to Your blessings.
So that when we hear their music
Our souls turn back to You for shelter.
Together, we offer our voices back to heaven,
And rejoice.

Postscript: I also had the pleasure of reading this at an open mike night at Shabbat Shira. It was originally posted on May 12, 2010, and was reposted along with “For the Gift of Song,” in memory of Debbie Friedman, z”l, on January 9, 2011. My other creativity prayers include: “For the Gift of Dance,” “For the Gift of Art,” “For the Gift of Laughter,” “For the Gift of Words” and “For the Gift of Torah Scholarship.”

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Evening Blessings

Posted on: November 20th, 2011 by tobendlight

Jewish liturgy includes a set of morning blessings called Birkot Hashachar. Those blessings include a set of one line prayers that remind us of G-d’s gifts of renewal each day. This creates the practice of reciting a daily morning gratitude list. “Evening Blessings” is an attempt to create a night time version of this prayer.

Evening Blessings
Blessed are You, Adonai Our G-d, Sovereign of the universe who has given us (me) the…
…gifts of the body.
…delights of the senses.
…beauty of the heart.
…dignity of the mind.
…radiance of the soul.
…mystery of the spirit.
…blessings of Your Word.
…majesty of Your wisdom.
…presence of Your glory.
…wonder of being.

Blessed are You, Adonai Our G-d, Sovereign of the universe,
For these and all Your gifts, we sanctify and praise Your Holy Name.

Postscript: Here’s a link to my version of “Morning Blessings.” Also check out: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.”

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Quick Meditation at Night

Posted on: October 29th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer is to thank G-d for the gift of today (this very day) and of tomorrow (the day about to come). It’s another in my series of “quick meditations,” including: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk.” These meditations are for use when prayer time is brief. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Quick Meditation at Night
G-d,
Thank you for the gift of this day,
The one ending,
And the one about to begin.
Help me to see the moments and the hours,
Those I’ve spent and those to come,
As blessings, as teachers.
Guide me to service for Your Name’s sake.
Grant me comfort and rest
So that I may return to the new day
With a sense of joy, hope and peace.
Then, G-d of old,
I will become a source of love,
A beacon of wonder, awe and grace.

Postscript: Check out: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk.”

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: Open Walls

Archive for the ‘Gratitude’ Category

Prayer of Gratitude

We Are Music

Beshalach 5773: Dance Hallelujah

Vayetze 5773: A Moment of Love

Upon Gaining Employment

Being Present

Messengers

Shabbat Shira: For the Gift of Music

Evening Blessings

Quick Meditation at Night

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