Archive for the ‘Spiritual Traveler’ Category

 

The Pulse of Holiness

Posted on: December 28th, 2017 by Alden

Yesterday, in the early morning, two ideas drifted in and out of my consciousness as I drifted in and out of sleep. Love, and holiness. After waking, this is what I wrote.

The Pulse of Holiness
The love
That echoes love
That whispers love
That breathes love
In the quiet stillness of morning
Is leading you toward light,
Toward understanding,
Toward G-d.
For love is the pulse of holiness,
The beating heart of radiance and wonder,
The rhythm of creation,
The energy of blessing,
The starburst of the divine.

The love
That echoes in your heart
Resonates eternal
With all beings,
With all souls,
With the wisdom of the ages,
And the wisdom of the earth.

Yes, love is the pulse of holiness.
Let it flow through you.
Let your countenance shine majesty
From the core of your being
To the edge of the universe,
To fill the world
With splendor.

© 2017 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: See also, “Evidence of Holiness.

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: NASA

Spiritual Vandals

Posted on: November 14th, 2017 by Alden

A song of the Spiritual Traveler, the one who has a profoundly unexpected experience with angels at the gates of mercy. As a result of that one moment, the Spiritual Traveler will never be the same again. This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

Spiritual Vandals
At the gates of an ancient city
A spiritual vandal cracked into my heart.
Stunned,
Expecting the blood of my grief and shame
To sizzle on the hot stone,
Ready to shout,
‘How dare you touch that sacred place,’
I saw a river of light flowing through me.
Starlight. Moonlight. Sunlight. Your light. My light.
Light from the moment of creation.
So much radiance and glory.
Suddenly on my knees,
My forehead on the pilgrim’s path,
I wept.

Now I wait at the gates
For you.
To invite you close,
To let me see the fissure in your heart
Ready to burst,
To touch it with love,
To crack you open
So that you can see the majesty and the beauty
That flows through us all.

Listen,
Dear sisters, dear brothers:
Do not fear the vandals who guard
The gates of mercy.
For mercy is love,
And love is light,
And light seeks light,
And these angels only want to show
That it’s been inside you
All along.

© 2021 CCAR Press from This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer

Postscript: See also “Come Walk.”

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: Photo by Alden Solovy

Secret Light

Posted on: January 4th, 2017 by Alden

Holiness surrounds us. That’s the theme of this meditation, inspired by my recent ELI talk, “Falling in Love with Prayer” (video soon to be posted). It’s my second meditation referring to the Psalm 97 couplet: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” A mishna on this line says that a secret light from the time of creation was stored away for the righteous to be revealed in the world to come. I believe that even G-d’s most special light is available to all of us.

Secret Light
The light of G-d
Is not well-hidden,
Not so secret,
That we must battle
The forces of nature
Or armies of evil
To stand it its glow.

It’s there,
Behind your eyes,
Pulsing from the hills,
Rising from the sands.
It’s there,
Inside a spade of dirt,
Inside the caper bud
And the orchid blossom,
In the old folks
And the little ones.

The light of G-d
Is not well-hidden.
Far enough
That you must begin the journey.
Close enough
That you will surely find it.

© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Being an ELI Speaker is a great experience. Learn more about it here. See also, “Sowing Light” and “Light of G-d.”

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.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Recipe for a Life

Posted on: December 25th, 2016 by Alden

In one of my writing fantasies, a famous chef proposes that we coauthor a cook book/prayer book. Yum. This will be the opening prayer. It was inspired by the amazing creativity and generosity of the people at ELI talks and CCAR Press. And it’s one of those pieces that come out as a complete surprise, like “Come Walk.” This piece was first posted on Facebook. The text follows a video recitation.

 

Recipe for a Life
1 cup gratitude
2 tablespoons humility
½ teaspoon pride
5 cloves love, 2 crushed
4 seeds forgiveness
2 tall stalks strength
1 tablespoon surrender
2 sprigs awe
3 sprigs wonder
½ cup hard knocks, melted
1 cup fresh squeezed joy
½ cup pounded sorrow
1 cup wisdom, sifted
1 gleaming ray of light
Two cubes compassion
Dash of fleeting time
Pinch of coarse suffering
Zest of music
Zest of prayer

Combine ingredients
Stir with abandon
Invite friends
Sing

© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Here’s a link to “Falling in Love with Prayer,” my ELItalk. Friday morning I woke with profound gratitude flavored with a humility that feels closer to awe. Two pillars of my legacy were released this year: This Grateful Heart, a book of psalms and meditations from CCAR Press, and ‘Falling in Love with Prayer,’ my ELI talk. My gratitude is for the faith that these organizations have placed in my work. My humility is for the gift of talent, professionalism, enthusiasm and joy shown by the people of these groups. I wrote this piece in honor of the amazing people of both organizations.

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.

Home page image: ooffoo.com

The Rhythm of Wonder

Posted on: May 22nd, 2016 by Alden

This meditation about radical amazement was inspired during a class on Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. I wondered silently if it would be possible to write a prayer that captures the experience of radical amazement, thus creating a meditation to prepare the eyes and open the heart to awe and wonder. Here’s a link to read an essay about the allusions and metaphors in this meditation — also entitled “The Rhythm of Wonder,” on RitualWell.org.

The Rhythm of Wonder
When the mountains sing,
When the seas dance,
When a crescent moon glides the heavens
And the sun lifts day from night,
When the rivers waltz to hymns of rain,
And the oceans drum on cliffs of stone,
When the caper bush wakes
And the wild iris blooms,
Remember this,
It’s not the wind that lifts the eagle.
The eagle lifts the wind.

You are the love
That frees the baritone hills
And the pirouette skies,
A shaft of light to loose the crescendos of glory
And the colors of awe,
A heartbeat summoning the rhythm of wonder,
A yearning to hear the pulse of G-d.

When silence resounds with music,
When darkness radiates light,
When creation reaches up
From the core of the earth,
And eternity is a breeze
From the edge of the universe,
When the call to holiness shines brilliant
In the breathless dawn,
Remember this,
It’s not the prayer that lifts the blessing.
The blessing lifts the prayer.

© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This prayer was inspired during a class called “Jewish Thinkers and their Worlds,” taught by Peta Jones Pellach, director of educational activities for the Elijah Interfaith Institute. During class

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.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

The Way of Spices

Posted on: May 15th, 2016 by Alden

Spices IndiaHere’s a new song of the spiritual traveler. An extended metaphor, it’s about understanding the nature of each moment and taking those moments into ourselves as gifts.

The Way of Spices
When you reach the way of spices
Fiery and sweet
Cinnamon and ginger, cumin and cardamom
Inhale with all of your senses
Taste this moment
Mixtures familiar and new
Subtle and strong
Salt and pepper
The way of ending and beginning.

When you reach the path of color
Bold and bright
Azure and gold, crimson and amber
Breathe the hues through your chest
See this moment
A palace of refracted light
Sparkling radiant
Brilliant and luminous
The path of beauty and holiness.

When you reach the road of fabric
Coarse and fine
Burlap and silk, flax and silver thread
Remove your gloves and shoes
Feel this moment
The tapestry that weaves and reweaves
Seen and unseen
Stitched and embroidered
The road of being and becoming.

When you reach the canyon of shadow
Dark and steep
Unknown and unseen, shapeless and shifting
Let courage guide your steps
Ascend this moment
A trail of challenge and victory
Power and perseverance
Bravery and honor
The canyon of wisdom and grace.

When you reach the passage to your heart
Delight in the grandeur
Savor the brilliance
And voyage into adventure
Peace will be your companion
And joy will be your guide
Your nights will be bright with starlight
And your days will shimmer with splendor.

© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Other songs of the spiritual traveler include: “Come Walk,” “All is Well,” “River,” “Bird is Bird” and “About the Rainbow.”

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.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Breisheit: Evidence of Holiness

Posted on: October 6th, 2015 by Alden

600px-Sextans_B_Hubble_WikiSkyIn a patch of sky seen from the South Pole, researchers say they have glimpsed the beginning of time, a faint microwave glow of the Big Bang. Or maybe, just maybe, the scientists found something they cannot explain. The early stanzas of the prayer include lines adapted from an AP article that appeared in The Times of Israel. The prayer closes with lines from Gensis 1:1-5 as translated in the 1962 JPS volume The Torah: The Five Books of Moses. Quotes from these sources are shown in italics.

Evidence of Holiness

Suppose God
Plays hide and seek
Among the stars

Cosmic microwave radiation —
A faint microwave glow from the Big Bang —
Has been detected from Earth…

Leaving evidence of holiness
So that we might yearn
To glimpse the moment when
The divine desire to create burst forth
Into an explosion of awe and wonder.

These waves are signals of
An extremely rapid
Inflation of the universe…

Consider this, dear sister.
Answer this, dear brother.
What is it that you see
With your heart
When a faint glow
From the beginning of time
Reaches the earth?
What is it to know that
A rhythmic pattern
Of radiance is the
Foundation of everything?

Could it be,
Could it be

With darkness
Over the surface
Of the deep…

That the Painter,
The Composer,
The Sculptor,
The Author of all Being,
Signed this masterwork
Of creation

God said:
“Let there be light…”

Leaving a trace of glory
For us to find,
Using ripples in the
Fabric of the cosmos?

.ויהי-ערב ויהי-בקר, יום אחד
Viyhi erev, viyhi voker, yom echad.
And there was
Evening and there was
Morning.
A first day

© 2014 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This is a revised version of the prayer first posted here on March 19, 2014. I welcome reactions to the combination of news text, scripture and poetry. I use the technique of posing questions to the reader in a variety of meditations and prayers, including “For Healing the Spirit,” “Regarding Old Wounds” and “For Sharing Divine Gifts.” All three appear in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and 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 Source: WikiMedia Commons

Kedoshim: Holy

Posted on: April 18th, 2015 by Alden

HolyKedoshim opens with a spectacular line: “Ye shall be holy, for I, Adonai your G-d, am Holy.” (Lev 19:2) We’re commanded to be holy. How can we be commanded to be holy? Some say that holiness results from our efforts to fulfill the other commandments. Were that true, why would we need a separate commandment to be holy?

What if the commandment to be holy means to make ourselves witnesses to holiness? What if it means that we are to become vessels in which to collect sparks of holiness? It would be both simple to understand and the work of a lifetime: become ready to experience holiness when, suddenly, unexpectedly, miraculously, we’re in its presence.

This is a new two-part ritual to prepare us to sight holiness. I imagine doing it in a group, with drums, the group split in two. One group repeats Part 1, mantra-style. The second group reads Part 2 in rhythm with Part 1. At intervals, the groups switch parts. To help you experience it, I’ve included a two-minute recording of Part 1, which you can play while you read Part 2.

 

Holy
Part 1
Heartbeat.
Drum beat.
Pulse beat.
Holy.

Part 2
Holiness surrounds me,
Fills the empty space.
Wondrous luminosity.
Radiance and grace.
Pulsing. Pulsing.
Heavenly embrace.
Pulsing. Pulsing.
To this human place.

The Artist and the canvas,
The Sculptor and the stone,
The Composer and the notepad,
The Potter’s clay is thrown.
Creating the foundation.
Creating sky and earth.
Vast and small and present,
Yearning to be known.

Holiness is waiting.
Here and now and strong.
Waiting for a witness.
Hallelujah song.

Painted by Your light,
Sculpted, drafted, formed.
Story, dance and music.
Miracles performed.

My heart will be Your vessel,
A vessel for this light.
Collecting sparks and glimmers.
Marvelous delight.

Holiness is waiting.
Here and now and strong.
Waiting for a witness.
Hallelujah song.

© 2015 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Rhyming is not my “go to” poetic tool, although there are a few powerful exceptions, such as “Come Walk.” Thank you to Rabbi Zoë Klein for her suggestion to use rhyme to solidify the pulse of Part 2, daring to play with — and to send me — a few of the verses rewritten to get the idea across. Check out her debut novel, Drawing in the Dust. As my first effort creating this kind of ritual, I’d also appreciate your comments.

This is posted for the double portion Acharey-Kedoshim 5775. Note that the Torah readings in Israel are currently out of sync with the rest of the world until May 23, 2015, Parahsat Bamidbar. I’m posting prayers related to the Torah portion on the earlier Israeli cycle.

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.

Photo Source: Elev8

Fire and Water

Posted on: August 31st, 2014 by Alden

SunsetLove and despair can be like fire. Truth can be like water, keeping the fires that fuel our emotions – the passions that make us human – in the proper balance. This is a quick meditation on love, despair and truth.

Fire and Water
One day
The fire of despair
Will sear your aching heart.
And when you wake
From this dream of death
You will feel a vital new organ
Beating in your chest.

G-d of Old,
Let the fires of grief
Lift me toward You.

One day
The fire of love
Will sear your longing eyes.
And when you wake
From this dream of life
You will see a vital new light
Shining from your face.

G-d of Old,
Let the fires of joy
Lift me toward You.

One day
The still waters of truth
Will sooth your yearning soul.
And when you enter G-d’s word
You will surrender to awe and majesty,
Holiness will fill your hands
With righteousness and charity,
Hope and peace will follow in your path.
And your life will shimmer with holiness.

© 2014 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: See also “The Cut that Heals” and “Witnessing: A Meditation,” as well as “Doubt,” “Fear,” “Anger,” “Shame.” Please take a moment to learn about my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

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.

Photo Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library

About Miracles

Posted on: August 8th, 2014 by Alden

Evening Sun and GrassThis a new meditation in the voice of the one who has a question that doesn’t need an answer. It’s written, of course, in the voice of the Spiritual Traveler. Prayers in this series include: “About the Rainbow,” “About the Heavens” and “About Shabbat.”

About Miracles
Majestic Sovereign,
Source of awe and wonder,
When did You decide
To make daily miracles so simple,
So gentle, so quiet and so small?
Did our fear of Your Voice
Echoing from the mountain top
Push You away?
Or was this Your plan all along?
To show us Your Glory
In fire and smoke,
In the parted sea,
In the darkness and in the light,
And then to draw away
So that we would
Yearn for You to be near,
So that we would yearn
For your power and might,
For Your holiness
And for Your salvation?
Or are You waiting, patiently,
To return, again, with signs
And with wonders?

© 2014 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Other prayers in the voice of the spiritual traveler include: “Come Walk” and “Rejoice!” See also: “About the Rainbow,” “About the Heavens” and “About Shabbat.”

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.

Photo Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library

“Alden has become one of Reform Judaism’s master poet-liturgists…" - Religion News Service, Dec. 23, 2020

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