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Archive for the ‘Hopes’ Category

This Day, Revised

Posted on: August 7th, 2019 by Alden

Here’s a meditation about living a life of love and honor in service to G-d and the world. It is offered now as a balm in the face of a difficult week of mass shootings in the U.S. The first two stanzas pose questions: “What do I ask of this day?” and “What does this day ask of me?” This revised version adds a final stanza, in the tradition of Jewish prayer, restating and strengthening the core message.

This Day, Revised
What do I ask of this day?

Joy and laughter.
Kindness and grace.
To live with dignity and compassion,
Humility and strength.
Work. Honest Labor.
A job. A livelihood.
Food. Clothing. Shelter.
Gratitude and hope.
Love and contentment.

What does this day ask of me?

Humor and wonder.
Forgiveness and surrender.
To act with reverence and respect.
To be awake and alive
With passion and commitment.
Justice. Righteousness. Charity.
Integrity and honor.
Gratitude and hope.
Love and contentment.

G-d of blessings,
Let me be a source of peace,
A beacon of comfort,
And a well of blessings,
This day,
And every day,
In service to Your world.

Postscript: The original version of this prayer was first posted here on Nov. 27, 2011. Here are more brief prayers for the day: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.”

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.

Image Source: WikiMedia Commons

Show Me

Posted on: July 24th, 2019 by Alden

What does G-d want from us? Our service to Torah, mitzvot and tikun olam. These actions are a source of holiness and love. Thank you to Joanne Fink and Zenspirations for use of the illustration.

Show Me
Show me the works of your hands
And the deeds of your heart
And I will cause holiness
To pass through you
Like the wind through the trees
Summoning your soul
To mingle with Mine.

Set your mind to all
That is kind and just,
Compassionate and good.

Set your hand to all
That is right and true,
Charitable and healing.

Incline your heart to all
That is righteous and holy,
Glorious and full of wonder.

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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: Zenspirations by Joanne Fink

Two Ravens

Posted on: January 6th, 2019 by Alden

This is the first of what will certainly be several new pieces inspired by my renewed learning at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. The idea that the raven Noah sent from the ark after the flood foreshadowed ravens feeding the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:4) came up in Rabbi Meir Schweiger‘s Tanach class. The timing was uncanny. At the time I was enjoying The Key of Rain, co-authored by my teacher Rav Mike Feuer, which uses that prophecy in the story. Meanwhile, my Rambam class, taught by Rabbi Levi Cooper, was learning Hilchot Yesodi HaTorah on prophecy. The final stanza of this piece alludes to Masechet Brachot Mishna 1:1 from my class with Raḥel Berkovits.

Two Ravens
Two ravens
Flying over the hills
Can be seen
As messengers of G-d
If you look
With prophet’s eyes.

A fox
Scavenging in the Temple ruins
Can be seen
As a sign of redemption
If you look
With sage’s eyes.

You children of Israel,
Awake!
You are surrounded by mysteries,
Bathed in holiness,
The light bursting freely from ancient wisdom.
If only you would look with your heart.
If only you would see with your soul.
Then, the secrets of gratitude and wonder
Would dance with you
Like wedding guests
Yearning for communion
With G-d’s Holy Word.

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Postscript: This piece comes as a bit of a surprise, inasmuch as it reflects a synthesis of learning from multiple teachers from materials both in and out of class. In the past, my experience of being inspired by Jewish learning has been that one class meeting can (but doesn’t necessarily) lead to one new idea and one new prayer.

Photo Source: The Key of Rain, cover illustration used with permission

This Joyous Soul

Posted on: December 24th, 2018 by Alden

Here’s the title piece from my new book This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press. The book is a companion volume to This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. This Grateful Heart provides prayers and meditations to address the days and seasons of our lives. This Joyous Soul offers a bridge between the language of traditional prayer and the language of personal experience.

This Joyous Soul
G-d’s love lingers
Where the rainbows hide,
Waiting to burst forth
In radiant glory.

How this joyous soul yearns for You!
Your blessings and Your grace,
Your wisdom and Your compassion,
This joyous voice sings Your praises.

G-d’s love lingers
At the gates of your heart,
Waiting to burst forth
In luminous splendor.

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Photo Source: Deep Sky

Before the Storm: For Hurricane Florence

Posted on: September 12th, 2018 by Alden

Hurricane Florence is headed the Carolina and Virginia coast. The monster storm is predicted to make landfall as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane.

Before the Storm
G-d of heaven and earth,
Source of All,
The Hurricane Florence approaches,
A tribute to the force of creation,
Your power and might.

What chaos will blow with the wind?
What destruction will strike?
Who will suffer? Who will stay secure?

G-d of mystery and awe,
Grant us safety as Florence engulfs our homes and our lives.
Protect us. Shield us. Guard us.
Grant peace of mind to those in fear.
Grant food and clothing,
Warmth and shelter to those in need.
Bless emergency and rescue workers with the tools and skills they need
As they risk their lives for the sake of our families, communities and friends.
Grant healing to those who are sick or injured.
Bless us with common sense throughout the squall — the wind, the rain and the tides —
And with kinship and cooperation when the hurricane passes.

G-d of awe and wonder,
Our Rock and our Refuge,
See us through the gale
And watch us through the night,
For comfort, security and wellbeing,
So that we may serve You in love.

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Postscript: This is a revision of a prayer written for Hurricane Isaac. After the storm, see “Safety After Violent Weather,” a version of “After the Storm” revised in the wake of Hurricane Irene. My other weather safety prayers include: “In Devastation,” “For First Responders,” “After the Tornadoes” “Safety After Violent Weather” and “After the Storm.”

Photo Source: NASA

This Joyous Soul

Posted on: July 15th, 2018 by Alden

Here’s the title piece from my forthcoming book from CCAR Press, This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings. The book is a companion volume to This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. This Grateful Heart provides prayers and meditations to address the days and seasons of our lives. This Joyous Soul offers a bridge between the language of traditional prayer and the language of personal experience.

This Joyous Soul
God’s love lingers
Where the rainbows hide,
Waiting to burst forth
In radiant glory.

How this joyous soul yearns for You!
Your blessings and Your grace,
Your wisdom and Your compassion,
This joyous voice sings Your praises.

God’s love lingers
At the gates of your heart,
Waiting to burst forth
In luminous splendor.

Postscript: This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings is available for pre-order. This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day is available for purchase.

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.” 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: Central Conference of American Rabbis

Passages

Posted on: July 7th, 2018 by Alden

A new prayer about prayer as the doorway to eternity. The prayer is structured as seven six-word meditations, followed by a prayer for a life of blessings.

Passages
Prayer is the doorway to compassion.
Compassion is the entry to humility.
Humility is the passage to love.
Love is the gateway to peace.
Peace is the guardian of life.
Life is the invitation to now.
Now is the essence of eternity.

Source of all,
Creator of time and space,
Guide me through these passages
So I may serve you with dedication, awe and wonder,
Living Your mitzvot with my words and deeds,
Lifting my heart closer to the radiance of being,
Lifting my soul to the living waters of Your blessings.

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Photo Source: National Park Service Photo Gallery

Abundance

Posted on: April 1st, 2018 by Alden

A new meditation on the flow of energy and abundance. The third stanza echoes Psalm 114:4, “The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like young sheep,” shifting the tone from meditation, to praise and hope for tomorrow. The final stanza closes with a blessing.

Abundance
The heavens sing to the stars.
The stars whisper to the sun.
The sun caresses the sea.
The sea dances with the land.
The land shares its gifts,
For abundance fills creation
With energy and light
And I breathe glory into my veins.

Cast your hearts to the rhythm of silence,
The pulse of eternity,
The wisdom of love,
The radiance surrounding us all.

Then, the mountains will skip like rams once more,
The hills like young sheep.
The rivers will roar
And the sky will shimmer in the flow of bounty from G-d,
The Source of all blessings.

Cast your fears to the wind,
Your doubts to the breeze,
Your losses to the earth.
Open your hearts,
And let the heavens sing to you.

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Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Give Love Wings

Posted on: February 14th, 2018 by Alden

A new prayer about the holiness of love.

Give Love Wings
Give your love wings
To soar with the music and the prayers
That dance between us,
That sing around us,
That rise shimmering
To the heavens
In radiance and glory.

Give your heart freedom
To float breathless
In the vastness of the universe,
To become one with the Soul of all Being,
To enter the majesty of light
Pulsing from the ancient yearnings of our hearts.

Give your love wings, to soar.
And when you reach G-d’s holy place,
Opens your hands in blessing.

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Postscript: My other prayers about love include: Groucy: A Love Prayer, For New Love and Quick Blessing for a Past Love.

Photo Source: Stormhoek.com

For a Missing Pet

Posted on: February 6th, 2018 by Alden

Merlin the Cat

A prayer for a missing pet inspired by the disappearance and safe return of Merlin, the cat of friends Cantor Evan Kent and Rabbi Donald Goor. This prayer is based on one for a missing person. Perhaps it’s not shocking that the prayers are nearly identical. Welcome Home, Merlin!

For a Missing Pet
G-d of the frightened,
G-d of the missing and the lost,
Return my/our beloved pet
___________________________ [name]
To the cradle of my/our arms
And the refuge of my/our home
Speedily, in life and in health.
Watch over her/him. Protect her/him.
Shelter her/him from harm.
Deliver her/him from evil acts and evil intent.
Bless all who are helping with her/his return.

G-d of Old,
These [hours/days/weeks]
Of dismay and dread are almost too much to bear.
Grant me/us endurance, hope and faith
That I/we will soon be reunited with ___________ [name]
In the fullness of joy.

Holy One,
Protector and Redeemer,
Hear [this/my/our] prayer.

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Postscript: Here’s a prayer to be said “For a Critically-Ill Pet” and another for the “Passing of a Beloved Pet.”

Photo Source: Cantor Evan Kent

Archive for the ‘Hopes’ Category

This Day, Revised

Show Me

Two Ravens

This Joyous Soul

Before the Storm: For Hurricane Florence

This Joyous Soul

Passages

Abundance

Give Love Wings

For a Missing Pet

“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

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