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Archive for the ‘Spiritual Traveler’ Category

Bird is Bird

Posted on: June 1st, 2011 by tobendlight

Mid-afternoon, late September, on a long forest climb. The mountain trail took a sharp right giving way to a steep exposed slope and an unseen ridge line. At the top, nothing but shimmering blue sky and a lone bird. Sometimes the spiritual traveler will say a prayer with his eyes, with her heart, with his breath, with her being. And it doesn’t sound like a prayer at all.

Bird is Bird
Bird is bird.
Sky is sky.
You are You.
I am I.

Sun in East.
Sun in West.
Morning glory.
Evening rest.

Moon by day.
Moon at night.
Heaven’s mirror.
Earth’s delight.

Bird in air.
Bird in flight.
Holy motion.
Sacred sight.

Blue the sky.
Blue the sea.
Who will listen?
Who will be?

Postscript: Other prayers of the spiritual traveler include: “Come Walk,” “Leaving,” “Remember” and “About the Rainbow.”

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 by: Alden Solovy

A Heart of Vision

Posted on: May 7th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is from a new series of prayer/poems that combine the vision of the spiritual traveler with the voice of admonishing prophet. The result is a warning about the dangers of the mystical journey. It ends on a note of hope, acknowledging that even in despair G-d is with us. Other prayers incorporating the voice of the prophet include: “Let Love,” “Let Joy,” “Let Truth,” and “Let Holiness.”

To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

A Heart of Vision
I cannot see truth with my eyes.
I cannot gain wisdom with my sight.
Only my heart can know
Mystery and majesty,
Awe and wonder,
Glory and grace.

Listen dear sisters,
Dear brothers!
Do not be quick to pray
For vision from the center of your being,
To see from the inside out.
When your heart pulses with joy and laughter
You will rise weightless into the sky.
But when your heart cries its tears of blood
You will be naked and alone in the arms of G-d.

Postscript: Other prayer/poems in this series include “A Heart that Hears” and the upcoming “A Heart of Love.”

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.

A Year of Prayer

Posted on: March 22nd, 2011 by tobendlight

Today marks the first anniversary of launching this site. Thank you for your connection and commitment to prayer. Thank you for taking time to read and listen to my words. Here’s a list of just a few of my favorites:

The list represents a nice mix of the styles and voices that I use for writing prayers. So far, this site holds 128 posts, including 114 original prayers and seven short stories. It has 79 subscribers, 283 fans on Facebook and has had nearly 13,000 page views. My hope is that this represents a wonderful, albeit small, start.

How Do You Use These Prayers?
Knowing that these prayers are being used helps to energize my work. Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, Montreal, includes them in service handouts. Positive Jewish Living, Pastor Austin Fleming, Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Rabbi Paul Kipnes, Congregation Or Ami, Calabasas, CA, have shared my prayers with their readers. Thanks to all of you. How do you use these prayers? What other topics, emotions or moments need to be captured in prayer? What else would you like to see on this site? Please drop me an email or reply to this post.

A Few Words of Thanks
As a result of this site I’ve met amazing people from the Jewish world. I’m touched by everyone who’s reached out to connect. My deepest gratitude for the support of Beth Emet, The Free Synagogue, Evanston, IL. Special thanks to Joe Tye, Michael Greenwald, Rabbi Peter Knobel, Rabbi Andrea London, Larry Kaufman, Brenda Epstein, Beth Schafer, Rabbi Lisa Silverstein Tzur, Andrew Dennen and Tracy Friend for their love and encouragement. If you think you need to be thanked, you probably do and I apologize for missing your name.

Thanks again to all of my readers, partners in prayer.

B’Shalom,

Alden

About Shabbat

Posted on: March 4th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is from a series of prayer/poems in the voice of the one who has a question that doesn’t need an answer. The series includes “About the Rainbow” and “About the Heavens.” Here’s another lovely Sabbath prayer, “For the Arrival of Shabbat,” as well as two stories, “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

About Shabbat
Majestic Sovereign,
Well of blessings,
How did You decide
To create heaven and earth?
Was this Your purpose:
To make a world of work,
For us to toil in service?
Did You bring forth a day of rest
As a gift to Your creation?
Or was this Your only option,
After first conceiving
The glory of Shabbat?
Was the Sabbath itself
Your only intention?
Perhaps You summoned
Time and space
Solely to bring forth
The magnificent splendor
Of Shabbat.

Postscript: See also “For the Arrival of Shabbat,” as well as two Shabbat stories, “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on 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 credit: The Little Minyan

Now

Posted on: December 29th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is the third of a three-part meditation about the rhythm and flow of life. These meditations are written to be recited in order: “Leaving,” “Arriving” and “Now.” Please listen along as you read. Click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Now
This is now.
Always now.
Now and now and now.
The arrivals and departures
That bring me here
And take me way,
Are only dreams and memories,
Windows and smoky mirrors,
Distractions from the pulse of this moment.

What is this thing called now that always leaves,
That always arrives,
That changes and stays the same,
That is always present, ripe and waiting?
This is now.
Always now.
And the world is full of
Now and now and now.

Oh to live in this life,
This wondrous river of gifts.
This being. This becoming.
This shimmering light of awe and thanksgiving.
Let the currents flow,
Let the tides shift
And the moon rise and set,
So that now stays vital, vibrant and alive
With joy and grace.

Postscript: Take a look at my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Arriving

Posted on: December 27th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is the second of a three-part meditation about the rhythm and flow of life. These meditations are written to be recited in order: “Leaving,” “Arriving” and “Now.” To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Arriving
I’ve already arrived
In the moment to come.
The yet-to-be opens before me
As a flow of gifts and blessings,
Wounds and losses,
Nights and days,
A steady stream of danger and wonder.
The blue white sky.
The moonless night.

What is this thing called arriving
That feels so uncertain, unsteady, unknown
And yet so full of promise and hope?
I am arriving, always arriving,
In the next shimmering sunrise,
The next afternoon shadow.

Oh to live in this heartbeat,
This amazing pulse of earth and sea.
This place.
This space.
This radiant sigh of being.
Let the world laugh,
The earth cry,
The seasons ebb and flow,
So that the space for now
Opens with gratitude and peace.

Leaving

Posted on: December 26th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is the first of a three-part meditation about the rhythm and flow of life. These meditations are written to be recited in order: “Leaving,” “Arriving” and “Now.” The text follows. Here’s the piece, along with a photo I took of a sunrise over Lake Michigan. This meditation will appear in my forthcoming book, Song of the Spiritual Traveler. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below.

Leaving
I’ve already left
The moment that just was.
I’ve already taken in new sights
New sounds,
The rhythm and motion around me.
The grey dusk.
The morning light.

What is this thing called leaving
That feels so much like a knife
That slices my safety, my solace, my peace?
I am leaving, always leaving,
And the world is always leaving me
In the next gust of wind,
The next quiet night.

Oh to live in this breath,
This joyous expanse of air and light.
This here.
This now.
This wonder and amazement,
This luminous pulse of being.
Let the world sigh,
Let the earth turn,
Let the currents flow,
So that the space for tomorrow
Opens with awe and surrender.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

About the Heavens

Posted on: December 18th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is a brief meditation from a series of prayer/poems written in one of the many voices of the spiritual traveler. This is the voice of the one who has a question that doesn’t need an answer. We marvel at G-d’s gifts and wonder about the unknowable. The series includes: “About the Rainbow” and “About Shabbat.” This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

About the Heavens
Majestic Sovereign,
Artist of creation,
Why did You put the stars
Beyond our grasp?
Was it Your desire
To keep us searching the heavens
For luminous spirals,
Shimmering clouds,
Rings of glorious light?
Was this Your plan,
To summon us
To reach across the vastness
With hope and desire?
Or perhaps
Once You created the canvass of sky,
Once You took out Your watercolors,
Your oils,
Your charcoals,
Your pencils,
Your palette,
You couldn’t resist
The urge
To paint.

Photo Credit: Space.com

River

Posted on: November 19th, 2010 by tobendlight

This simple prayer/poem is an extended metaphor for the interior landscape of challenge and change. It will appear in my forthcoming book, Song of the Spiritual Traveler. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

River
River and free.
River and free.
Current and rapid.
River and free.

Ocean and gone.
Ocean and gone.
Storm and gale.
Ocean and gone.

Tide and return.
Tide and return.
Whitecap and wave.
Tide and return.

Eddy and flow.
Eddy and flow.
Headwater. Backwater.
Eddy and flow.

River and free.
River and free.
Boat and paddle.
River and me.

Postscript: Please click here to read other prayer/poems from the voice of the Spiritual Traveler.

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. Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing.

Photo Credit: U.S. Forest Service / John Hutmacher

About the Rainbow

Posted on: October 5th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is from a series of prayer/poems written in the voice of the spiritual traveler; specifically, it’s the voice of one who has a question that doesn’t need an answer. Other prayers in this series include “About the Heavens” and “About Shabbat.” This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

About the Rainbow
Majestic Sovereign,
Source of beauty,
When did You decide
To create the rainbow?
Was this Your design?
Or perhaps it was a
Fantastic discovery
The moment Your Divine Light
Burst through the firmament of heaven?
Did You know that
Your Glory
Could be refracted
Through a simple lens of water?
Or were awe and wonder created
When You first saw
Your own colors,
When You gasped
At Your own brilliant light
Arching across a deep blue sky?

Postscript: Other prayers in the voice of the spiritual traveler include: “Come Walk” and “Rejoice!”

Photo Credit: ScienceBlogs.com

Archive for the ‘Spiritual Traveler’ Category

Bird is Bird

A Heart of Vision

A Year of Prayer

About Shabbat

Now

Arriving

Leaving

About the Heavens

River

About the Rainbow

“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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