Posts Tagged ‘anger’

 

For the Christians of Egypt

Posted on: May 27th, 2017 by Alden

Today we grieve with the Coptic Christians of Egypt after gunmen attacked a bus of pilgrims headed to St. Samuel the Confessor monastery. The New York Times called the attack “a coldblooded escalation of sectarian violence targeting minority Christians that has left more than 100 dead since December.”

For the Christians of Egypt
Oh people of conscience,
Cry out.
For G-d calls us to stand
With our Christian brothers and sisters.

Source and Creator,
Grant a perfect rest under your tabernacle of peace
To the victims of the ongoing attacks
Against Christians in Egypt.
Remember, too, those murdered
Throughout the Christian world.

Today we remember with sorrow the recent
Attack on pilgrims to St. Samuel the Confessor.
Their lives were cut off
In acts of aggression and hate.
May their souls be bound up in the bond of life,
A living blessing in our midst.
May they rest in peace.

Remember the survivors of this horror.
Grant them comfort and consolation.
Bless them with endurance to survive,
Strength to rebuild,
Faith to mourn,
Courage to heal,
And devotion to each other.

Oh G-d,
We implore You,
Look down upon the suffering
Of the Christians of Egypt.
Hold them close with Your mercy.

G-d of All,
With Your gentle and loving hand
Unite Your children
Under a canopy of peace.
Bring the light of salvation and healing
To the four corners of the earth.

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

Postscript: On April 9, suicide bombings killed 44 at two Coptic churches in Egypt. This prayer is based on  for “Racist Violence against Houses of Worship” and my “Liturgy after Terror Attacks.”

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: The New York Times

Racist Violence against Houses of Worship

Posted on: July 5th, 2015 by Alden

Today witnessed a deadly racist attack at Quebec City’s Islamic Cultural Center. Racist violence against houses of worship is far too common. Here’s an update of two prayers I wrote after a deadly shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Charleston, S.C., and an arson attack at the Church of the Multiplication in Israel. Optional language appears in [brackets]. May there come a time when this prayer is no longer needed.

ADDENDUM, April 9, 2017: Today we grieve with the Coptic community of Egypt.

ADDENDUM, June 19, 2017: Today we grieve with the Muslim Welfare House, London.

ADDENDUM, October 27, 2018: Today we grieve with Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh.

ADDENDUM, April 28, 2019: The last month has seen attacks against Muslims in New Zeland, Christians in Sri Lanka and Jews in California.

Racist Violence against Houses of Worship
Oh people of conscience,
Cry out.
Cry out against arrogance.
Cry out against hatred and anger.
Cry out against violence and oppression.
For G-d requires us to stand
In the name of justice and freedom,
For G-d requires us to oppose terror,
To muster our power and energy
Against racist aggression
And to protect all houses of prayer.

Oh G-d,
We implore You,
Look down upon the suffering
Perpetrated against churches, mosques and synagogues,
Against houses of worship in so many lands,
By the hand of wickedness,
By the hand of malevolence,
By the hand of ignorance and sin.
Today we remember with sadness the attacks on ________________
[Add names of religious institutions, such as “Islamic Cultural Center, Quebec City,” “Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal AME Church,” “Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fish,” “Kehillat Bnai Torah Yeshiva Synagogue,” “Kano Central Mosque” or Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.]
[And the loss of precious life.]
[We remember: ________________. (Add names of individual victims.)]

With Your gentle and loving hand,
G-d of Shelter,
Unite all of your children
Under Your canopy of hope and love.
Bring the light of salvation and healing
To the four corners of the earth.

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

Postscript: There have been more than 90 documented attacks on historically black churches in the U.S. since 1956. On Wikipedia, there are 52 pages listing attacks on synagogues and Jewish communal organizations throughout the world; some of those pages include multiple incidents. Wikipedia also lists 21 pages of attacks on mosques. This prayer is an adaptation of my prayer “For the Yazidi People.” The introduction and the illustration for this prayer were updated on Jan. 30, 2017, in response to the shooting in Quebec City.

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Photo Source: Montreal Gazette (bullet hole in the window of a prayer room at a mosque in the Sablons neighborhood of Le Mans)

The Dark Corners

Posted on: February 15th, 2014 by Alden

Creation_of_LightFear, sorrow and doubt cannot defeat the light of holiness, unless you let them. This prayer acknowledges difficult moments and emotions, offering the classic Jewish response to facing them with strength and dignity: Torah, tefilah (prayer) and mitzvot (acts of righteousness).

This piece is part of “Three Prayers,” in which three of my prayers are set to original choreography by Lin Batsheva Kahn of the Tikvah Company of Artists and original cello music by Desiree Miller of the Chicago Civic Orchestra. “Three Prayers” premieres in Jerusalem in June 2014 as part of an evening of dance and poetry by Miriam Engel’s Angela Dance Company. To listen to the music performed by Desiree, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

The Dark Corners
Fear lurks
In the dark corners of my heart,
Waiting to convince me
That love will fail.

Sorrow lurks
In the dark corners of my soul,
Waiting to convince me
That faith will fail.

Doubt lurks
In the dark corners of my mind,
Waiting to convince me
That wisdom will fail.

Rock of Jacob,
Teach me to shine
The light of mitzvot
Into the dark corners of my mind,
So that I face my fears with courage
Redeeming them with awe and wonder.

Song of Miriam,
Teach me to shine
The light of tefilot
Into the dark corners of my soul,
So that I face my sorrows with strength
Redeeming them with righteousness.

G-d of Old,
Teach me to shine
The light of Torah
Into the dark corners of my mind,
So that I face my doubts with honor
Redeeming them with holiness.

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

Postscript: This prayer will appear in my forthcoming book, Prayers from the Heart of Darkness.Consider using this as a slichot meditation during the month of Elul. Here are links to prayers about specific challenging emotions, including “Doubt,” “Fear,” “Anger” and “Shame.”

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: WikiMedia Commons

Doubt, Fear, Anger, Shame

Posted on: October 4th, 2011 by tobendlight

Can doubt, fear, anger or shame be blessings? Here are links to four prayers about troublesome emotions. They speak to the need to reclaim the gifts hidden in these feelings: the challenge to grow and change, the opportunity to harness them for healing. As we move toward repentance, prayer and righteousness on Yom Kippur, may we find ways to redeem our feelings, our experiences and our lives as blessings. Here are links to four prayers about facing these emotions:

Here’s a prayer about the witnessing the pain of others, called: “Witnessing: A Meditation.”

Click here for a prayers for the Yamim Noraim, listed by topics. Here’s a focused list of prayers for Elul, one of prayers for Rosh Hashana, another for Yom Kippur prayers and one more for Sukkot. And here’s a link to yizkor and memorial prayers.

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.

Doubt

Posted on: May 22nd, 2010 by tobendlight

A friend asked me to write a prayer about doubt. I was stumped until, one morning after prayer and meditation, the notion of doubt as a Divine gift broke through. The result is a set of prayers about difficult emotions, including “Shame,” “Fear” and “Anger.” To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The entire text follows.

Doubt
G-d of ancient secrets,
G-d of unknown futures,
I’ve been on the mountain
And in the valley.
I’ve swum calm waters
And was tossed by a raging sea.
I’ve been a man / woman of perfect faith
And consumed by impenetrable doubt.
I live between moments of clarity and hours of confusion,
Between daylight and twilight.
I live between the heights and the depths,
Between the calm and the storm,
Between hesitation and trust.

Doubt is a gift.
Doubt is a journey.
Doubt is a blessing.

Holy One,
Creator of mysteries beyond my grasp,
Help me to see my doubts as teachers and guides
Leading me back to You,
Your people,
And Your word.
Let my doubt be the gateway to faith,
Just as confusion is the path to understanding,
As night is the doorway to sunlight.

Blessed are You, Redeemer of the lost,
Who created doubt so that we might discover faith.

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

Postscript: This is part of a series of prayers about difficult emotions, including “Fear,” “Shame” and “Anger.”

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