Archive for the ‘Men’ Category

 

This Man

Posted on: August 7th, 2011 by tobendlight

This Man PosterIn my observation and judgment, many men have a common experience of not feeling good enough or worthy enough for the blessings we receive. I, too, have spent much of my life not feeling worthy. This is a prayer/poem for men about “being enough” and is part of a series of prayers for men including “My Work Remains,” “For the Lost” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

This Man
These hands are enough.
Enough to hold,
Enough to heal,
To fix, to plant, to tend.
These hands are enough.

These arms are enough.
Enough to embrace,
Enough to carry,
To lift, to dig, to work.
These arms are enough.

These eyes are enough.
Enough to see,
Enough to guide,
To smile, to laugh, to cry.
These eyes are enough.

This heart is enough.
Enough to love,
Enough to care,
To hope, to yearn, to break.
This heart is enough.

This man is enough.
Enough to heal,
Enough to honor,
To respect, to challenge, to live.
This man is enough.

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

Postscript: Check out these prayers for men: “My Work Remains,” “For the Lost” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs,” as well as a list of other prayers for and about men.

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: Photo is © Gregory Tapler Photograpy; poster designed by Boysen Hodgson for MKP

The Mountain of My Heart

Posted on: March 5th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is another in my series of prayers for men. The title comes from a memoir of my 15-day journey on Mount Rainier, the same trip that yielded the masthead photo for this site. To listen to this prayer, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows. Other prayers for men include: “My Work Remains,” “For the Lost,” “We Share the Same Pain” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs.”

The Mountain of My Heart
The mountain of this earth
And the mountain of my heart
Are one journey,
A sacred trail,
Dangerous and delightful,
Treacherous and beautiful,
A passage to mystery, awe and wonder.

Men of justice and mercy:
Hear the call to action.
Forge honesty to kindness,
And receive the gift of joy.
Weld strength to gentleness,
And receive the gift of freedom.
Bind power to patience,
And receive the gift of courage.
Link gratitude to service,
And receive the gift of love.

The mountain of this earth
And the mountain of my heart
Are one journey.
A wondrous adventure,
Glorious and holy,
Joyful and abundant,
A celebration of creation and reunion.

In reverence for our fathers,
With respect for our brothers,
I humbly pray for the wisdom and vision,
Passion and humor,
Grace and dignity,
To live a life of honor and integrity,
A man among men,
Tasting the sweetness of these gifts.
Sharing them in devotion.
Living them in peace.

The mountain of this earth
And the mountain of my heart
Are one journey.
Radiant.
Abundant.
Divine.

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

Postscript: Here’s a link to all of my prayers for and about men.

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.

We Share the Same Pain

Posted on: November 9th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is an invitation, an invitation to men to bond as equals, as brothers, as friends, sharing our deepest pain and our deepest fear. It’s posted today to honor the men of the November 2010 New Warrior Training Adventure held by Chicago Community of The ManKind Project at Camp Ronora, Mich.

Please listen along as you read. (Click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.)

We Share the Same Pain
Brother,
You do not know me…
And you know me.
I do not know you…
And I know you.
We have travelled different roads,
But they are paths across the same landscape,
Trails across the same terrain.
Joy and anger,
Pride and shame,
Fear and love.
Our fathers and their fathers
Faced the journey of the heart alone,
Without the guidance of their brothers,
Without the wisdom of the generations.

Brother, we share the same legacy and
We share the same pain.
That is all I need to know
To love you today
For who you are and for who you can become.
Hurt, but not broken.
Still able to find the deep root of majesty within,
The gift of passion and power,
Radiance and joy,
Directed toward a life of service.
You know me.
I know you.
Let us share the challenge,
The journey,
And the victory.

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

Postscript: Check out these prayers for men: “My Work Remains,” “For the Lost,” “We Share the Same Pain”and “My Heart Knows What It Needs,” as well as a list of other prayers for and about men.

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

My Battle

Posted on: October 12th, 2010 by tobendlight

This meditation out came of my work as part of the ManKind Project. It’s a prayer/poem for men about reclaiming the sacred masculine, that deep well of strength, pride and energy in all men that our culture teaches us to suppress. The third stanza suggests naming your Higher Power. Several suggestions appear in [brackets]. Feel free to choose one of the suggestions, use a name for G-d that’s not shown here or to skip the line entirely.

Please listen along as you read. (Click on the triangle in the slider bar below. The entire text follows.)

 

My Battle
Today I go into battle.
It’s the battle for my heart.
Who am I before G-d?
Who am I before humanity?
Who’s that man in the mirror?
He’s not an opponent,
He’s my challenger.
He’s not a judge,
He’s my guide.
He’s not a boy,
He’s a man.

Today I go into battle,
It’s the battle for my soul.
What is my life?
What is my purpose?
Who will I be, today?
What choices will I make?
To hide from fear or face it?
To bury my shame or embrace it?
To deny my anger or use its power to build and create?
To deny my grief or use its power to heal and bless?

Today I go into battle,
I do not go alone.
I take my brothers as my companions,
The patriarchs as my guides,
And the [Fear of Isaac][the Rock of Jacob]
[the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob]
[Father Sky][the Ancient Spirit]
As my Source and Shelter.
I take honesty as my sword
And truth as my shield.
I take love as my creed
And integrity as my code.
Mystery and wonder will open the gates of tomorrow.

Today I go into battle.
It’s the battle for my life.

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

Postscript: Check out these prayers for men: “My Work Remains,” “For the Lost” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs,” as well as a list of other prayers for and about men.

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.

My Heart Knows What it Needs

Posted on: August 22nd, 2010 by tobendlight

This is another in my series of prayers and meditations for men. With a single tweak it could become gender neutral. That’s not my intent. I speak here to other men about my needs as a man, inviting them to take the risk that our society suppresses, opening our hearts to each other by expressing deep, abiding, brotherly love.

My Heart Knows What it Needs
A quiet place.
A calm, gentle space.
Stillness.
Peace.
My heart knows
What it needs.
To speak freely,
Honestly,
Openly to you my brother.
And to itself.
Safety. Acceptance. Strength.
A moment,
Just a moment
To loose the chains of
Anger and fear,
Guilt and shame,
And open the gates
Of love and surrender.

Come,
Adventure into the night of a thousand stars,
The day of radiant light.
They shine from heart to heart,
Beyond our sight,
Beyond the length of our days.

My heart knows what it needs.
To be heard.
Welcomed.
Accepted.
Protected.
To be given its voice,
And to return its power.
To be nourished.
To be healed.
To be whole.

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

Postscript: Check out these prayers for men: “My Work Remains” and “For the Lost,” as well as a list of other prayers for and about men.

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.

For the Lost: A Prayer for Men

Posted on: June 22nd, 2010 by tobendlight

Men Pray front.inddFriend or foe? That’s the ancient male warrior/protector concern. Harm or help? Enemy or friend? Safe or unsafe? It’s an antiquated question that needs a new meaning. Today the answer for most men is simple: Yes. Friend and foe. Enemy and friend. Safe and unsafe. Men can be – and typically are – both.

There’s a different way. It requires a new approach and a different question. Who do you want to be when you show up in your life and the lives of others? It is not a casual question.

This prayer appears in the new book Men Pray from SkyLight Paths. It’s for our brothers who are ready to join in the battle for their own hearts, the struggle for their own souls.

Friend or foe? Maybe the question isn’t antiquated after all…if I ask it of myself. In the battle for my own heart, I am both.

For the Lost
Brother.
I am not your rival.
I am not your enemy.
I am not the source of
Your fear and shame,
Your grief and loss,
Your loneliness
Or your nightmares.
I am your fellow.
Lost, at times, like you,
But never alone.
I rise above these struggles toward
A vision of my best self.

This is my work and my prayer:
Come with me as companion and friend,
And I will come with you as a gift of love,
Seeing you,
Holding your life as sacred,
Your journey as an adventure,
Your wisdom as a gift.

Drop your weapon and remove your mask
So that you can see truth.
For, in truth, your mask is neither power nor shelter.
It is thin as air,
Clear as glass,
Transparent, fragile, useless.

I see you, brother.
See me.
See this man.
Your right arm.
Your staff.
Your comfort.

Welcome home.

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

Postscript: I wrote this prayer the week after completing the January 2010 New Warrior Training Adventure of the ManKind Project put on by the Chicago community, along with another prayer titled My Work Remains. I’ve also written several other prayers for and about men.

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: SkyLight Paths

My Work Remains

Posted on: April 20th, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is profoundly intimate. And it is one of my favorite prayers written for myself and for other men. It came out of my work at the January 2010 New Warrior Training Adventure of the ManKind Project. It is dedicated to all who participated: the new men, the staff, the leaders and everyone who made the weekend possible. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

My Work Remains
I am not done with me.
I am beautiful.
A work of art.
A Divine gift.

My joy is this:
The canvass is not complete,
So many colors and shades,
Tones and hues,
So much bright light and
Deep shadow,
Have not yet risen to the surface.
Now, the paintbrush is mine,
As it always was,
The secret I kept from myself.

How many more
Wonderful secrets
Are inside of me?
Waiting. Ready.
Praying for me to
Paint and paint and paint,
With broad amazing strokes
And fine fancy details.

I am not done with me.
I am beautiful.
Glorious and holy,
Joyous and powerful,
Willing and able.

Brothers of this earth!
Walk with me.
Take my hand,
Feel this power,
Share this prayer.
For you too are beautiful.
A work of art.
A man.

My work remains.

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

Postscript: This piece could become more inclusive by swapping the words ‘brother’ and ‘man’ with ‘sister’ and ‘woman.’ That’s not the intent of this prayer. The intent is to develop, as part of my prayer writing mission, a body of prayers for and about men. Check out these prayers for men: “For the Lost” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs,” as well as a list of other prayers for and about men.

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.

“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