Tag Archive for "bless" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘bless’

Two Years of Prayer

Posted on: March 22nd, 2012 by tobendlight

We pray. Why? Many reasons. To connect with G-d. To connect with others. To connect with ourselves. And we use prayers in unique ways. Prayers from To Bend Light have been used in worship services, memorial services, 9/11 commemorations, in hospital rooms, Veterans Day services, as an introduction to a family genealogy, in a cookbook/fundraiser for first responders, two rabbinic theses and even as an epitaph on a headstone. (For complete information on reprints, permissions, using and posting these prayers, see “Share the Prayer!”)

Today marks the second anniversary of sharing my prayers online. So far the prayers, poems and stories posted here have been read more 42,000 times by people in 49 nations. Thank you for your connection and commitment to prayer. Thank you for your ideas and suggestions. And thank you for taking time to read and listen to my words.

The site now has 272 posts, including 215 original prayers and 12 short stories. I’ve also begun posting notes to help readers use these prayers, such as lists of prayers related to specific holidays and seasons like Passover and Counting the Omer, or to find specific topics, like Prayers for Social Justice and Yizkor and Memorial Prayers.

Here are a few of my favorite new pieces posted this year:

My Liturgy for 9-11 was read most often in the past year, driven in large part by the 10^th anniversary of the attacks.

Special thanks to Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder, Brenda Epstein, Alan Schwartz, Gail Hopke, Susan Diamond, Rabbi Paul Kipnes, Fran Rossi Szpylczyn, Rev. Naomi, Rev. Jennifer Danielle Crumpton, Boysen Hodgson and Pastor Austin Fleming, as well as Prayables, RJ Blog, Tzeh Ulimad, A Concord Pastor Comments, Bechol Lashon, Beth Emet: The Free Synagogue, Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, The ManKind Project Journal, BeliefNet, Positive Jewish Living, Odyssey Networks and Sacred Journey as well as everyone else I thanked last year or those I may have inadvertently missed, for your support, encouragement and partnership.

With love and blessings,

Alden

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Sadly, also new this year, instances of theft of this material, which leads me to post this additional notice:

Notice
These prayers may be used and shared only as described on this site. For complete information on reprints, permissions, using and posting these prayers, see “Share the Prayer!” No other uses are authorized and are in violation of the author’s copyright. All content on this site is copyright material of Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights are reserved.

Blessing For a Spouse / Partner

Posted on: March 9th, 2012 by tobendlight

I know a young couple who bless each other at the Shabbat table: they hold hands, look into each other’s eyes, then give and receive a blessing. This is a great addition to the Jewish custom of blessing our children. This piece appears in my book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. I use it for day six of counting the Omer, “Bonding in Lovingkindness.”

Blessing For a Spouse / Partner
Holiness walks with you,
My beloved.
Your face glows,
Your eyes shine,
And beauty surrounds you.
You sparkle with joy and hope.
Your countenance shimmers with the wonder of Creation.
You bless the hours and the days.

Let the glory of heaven light your path.
May you know G-d’s blessing
And G-d’s shelter,
Even as you fill our lives with strength and purpose,
With Torah and Mitzvot,
With Shabbat and holy days,
With your radiance
And with your love.

Postscript: Here are three Sabbath prayers: “For the Arrival of Shabbat,” “Welcome, Sabbath Queen” and “About Shabbat” Here are two Sabbath stories: “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.”

Please check out my Meet the Author video 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 Credit: Caroline’s Journal

Welcome, Sabbath Queen

Posted on: March 2nd, 2012 by tobendlight

This is a Hebrew poetry “smash-up,” combining the themes of the Yiddish song כוח with the image of the Sabbath Queen from the liturgical poem לכה דודי. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Welcome, Sabbath Queen
Let go! Let go!
Release your struggle and strife.
Release your work and your toil.

Welcome, Sabbath Queen,
With gifts of joy and light.
With gifts of comfort and peace.

Let go! Let go!
Release your troubles and concerns.
Release your worries and your burdens.

Welcome, Sabbath Queen,
With gifts of gentleness and song.
With gifts of radiance and love.

Enter this holy day
This sacred time
This ancient beauty
That returns to nourish
Body and soul.

Enter this luminous wonder,
The place of Torah and t’fillah,
This moment that touches creation
With celebration and stillness.

Come,
Sing with us in sacred harmony.
Sing of majesty and wonder,
Revelation and redemption.
Sing out G-d’s wisdom and compassion.
G-d’s gift of rest.

Welcome, Sabbath Queen.
Welcome.

Postscript: Jewish poetry, liturgy, story and song are rich with the deep Jewish love for Shabbat. Here’s a prayer “For the Arrival of Shabbat” and a question to G-d “About Shabbat,” plus two short, short stories – also known as flash fiction – about Shabbat: “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.” Sarah Rivka is one of my favorites.

IPlease 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. Please take a moment to post a link to your Facebook page, your blog or mention it in a tweet. Thanks.

Image Source: Alden Solovy

Prayers of My Heart

Posted on: December 21st, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a short and simple prayer about living with joy and tenderness, guided by G-d’s word. To listen, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Prayers of My Heart
G-d of millennia,
G-d of generations
And the great expanse,
I have but a moment,
A flicker of time to
Bless and be blessed.

These are the prayers of my heart:
Tenderness and Shabbat.
The spiritual practice of love.
To know and not to know.
To be strong in faith and open to adventure.
To laugh in the wind.
To smile in the sunshine.
To play in the rain.
To live in dignity.
To consecrate the hours.
To sanctify my days.
To live Your Torah.
To praise Your name.
Shabbat and tenderness.
The spiritual practice of love.

Postscript: Here are four related prayers: “For Devotion,” “For Humility,” “For Joy” and “For Service.” And here are more prayers about prayer: “For Prayer,” “Prayer Released,” “Whispered Prayer,” “To Pray” and “Prayer for You, Prayer for Me.”

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.

For Work

Posted on: August 22nd, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a prayer for those seeking employment. Choices for the reader are shown in [brackets]. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Work
G-d of the laborer and the professional,
Of the craftsman and the entrepreneur,
Of the clerk and the executive,
Bless us with skill and wisdom
So that we may find employment
And financial security.
Give us energy and fortitude,
Courage and hope,
As the economy [struggles to revive][slows][remains uncertain].
Help us to discover hidden talents
And new strengths that are valued by employers.

As I begin another [day][week][month][year]
Of unemployment,
Help me to remember all of Your gifts,
So that I can envision a prosperous future.
May I find work that provides meaning and sustenance.
May opportunities become plentiful for all.

Blessed are You,
G-d of bounty and grace.

Postscript: Here’s a prayer to be said “Upon Losing Employment” and one to be said “Upon Gaining Employment.” This is a prayer “Against Worker Exploitation.” Here’s a link to an annotated list of prayers for social justice.

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: Deccan Chronicle

For Devotion

Posted on: August 11th, 2011 by tobendlight

אֲדֹנָי שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח וּפִי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ
“O Lord, open You my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.” – Psalms 51:17

This meditation opens with the words of Psalms 51:17 which are used before reciting the Amidah to set the intention for devotion in prayer. Each of the subsequent lines builds upon the line before to deepen the intention. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Devotion
אֲדֹנָי שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח וּפִי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ
G-d, open my lips, so that my mouth may declare Your Praise.
Open my mouth, so that my heart may sing Your Glory.
Open my heart, so that my eyes may see Your Wisdom.
Open my eyes, so that my soul feels Your Presence.
Open my soul, so that my hands do Your Mitzvot.
Open my hands, so that my works glorify Your Torah.
Open my works, so that my deeds bear witness to Your Truth.
Open my deeds, so that my life bears witness to Your Justice.
Open my life, so that my spirit bears witness to Your Mercy.
Open my spirit, so that my days declare Your Holy Name.

Postscript: Here are two more meditation based on a lines from Jewish prayer, “Affirmation of Faith” and “Gathering: A Dream of Reunion,” as well as related prayers “For Humility,” “For Joy” and “For Service.”

Photo Source: Kaballah Source

Small Moments

Posted on: July 28th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer is about seeking the smallest moments of beauty and compassion. When we seek compassion, our souls bonds with the idea that it is an essential human quality. The prayer was written, in part, as an antidote to another of my prayers, a challenging piece called “Witnessing: A Meditation.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Small Moments
Have you seen the secret nod of understanding between old friends?
Or the first wobbly steps of a child?
Have you heard an old man sigh as he sits down in a chair?
Have you captured, from the corner of your eye,
An act of gentle sweetness,
A fleeting gesture nearly missed as you rushed by?

Listen and hear.
Look and see.
Touch and feel.
Breath and smell.
Taste and remember.

Do you recall the radiance of sunrise?
Or the brilliance of the full moon?
Do you savor the small moments
Of joy and wonder bursting forth around you?
Do you notice the gifts of friendship, kindness and love?
If you do, bless you.
If you don’t, these blessings await you.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Source of daily splendor,
You gave us vision and understanding
So that we can witness and celebrate
Acts of generous spirit,
Expressions of compassion and healing,
The tiniest gestures of holiness and love.
Open our hearts to the precious glories of our days.

Blessed are You, Holy One of Old,
Beauty abounds.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 20th day of counting the Omer: “Bonding in Compassion.”

Photo Credit: Good Life Zen

Father’s Meditation

Posted on: July 20th, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s another prayer written with my own children in mind.

Father’s Meditation
Gracious and Compassionate One,
Mother of the Universe,
Father of Life,
Source and Shelter,
Hear this prayer:

My children are Yours,
To guide and protect with Your strong hand,
To nurture and care with Your outstretched arm,
To hold and heal with Your loving ways.
Grant them vitality and fortitude
As they build lives of their own.
Fill their days with friendship and hope,
Joy and adventure,
Thanksgiving and peace.
Ease their burdens and relieve their struggles.
Grant them years of prosperity and serenity,
Wisdom and courage,
Gratitude and wonder.
May they enjoy the fruits of Your creation
In service to Torah and our People Israel.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
G-d of our ancestors,
G-d of generations.

Postscript: Another prayer that I wrote for my daughters is called “For Bereaved Children.” And here’s a parent’s prayer for when “My Child Leaves Home.”

If you use this prayer, please click “like” on this page and subscribe. Please take a moment to post a link to your Facebook page, your blog or mention it in a tweet. Thanks. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!”

Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk

Posted on: July 14th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer is about naming G-d according to the blessings we receive. It’s another in my series of “quick prayers,” including: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” The irony is this: the more time I take thinking about the words of this particular prayer, the more gratitude I receive.

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

Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk
G-d of Old,
Your name is Peace.
Your name is Justice.
Your name is Mercy.

G-d of Life,
Your name is Compassion.
Your name is Love.
Your name is Hope.

G-d of Blessing,
Your name is Truth.
Your name is Wisdom.
Your name is Righteousness.

G-d of our fathers,
G-d of our mothers,
Your name is in my heart
And before my eyes.

Blessed are You Adonai,
Your name shines throughout creation.

Postscript: Please check out “ “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” Other prayers of praise include: “Dance Hallelujah,” “Sing Hallelujah” and “In Praise.”

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.

Quick Meditation at Noon

Posted on: July 12th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is from a set of meditations for use when prayer time is brief, like waiting in line at the grocery story or stopped at a red light, as well as for those daily in between moments and for mornings when you need to get off to work quickly. Other prayers in this series are: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Quick Meditation at Noon
There’s still time to live this day with intention,
To set aside petty thoughts and small tasks,
To see myself with dignity and grace.

There’s still time to live this day with my hands and my heart,
To walk with strength
To act with courage,
To offer kindness,
To build and to sustain,
To embrace and to bless.

G-d of forgiveness,
Thank you for the gift of hope
That you’ve planted in every moment,
The gift of renewal that You’ve given to every hour,
So that we may find the way
To redeem our days with holiness.

Postscript: “A Moment of Blessing” and “Morning Blessings” are slightly longer and lovely prayers to use to start the day. Other quick prayers are: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.”

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 Credit: David Horvitz

Posts Tagged ‘bless’

Two Years of Prayer

Blessing For a Spouse / Partner

Welcome, Sabbath Queen

Prayers of My Heart

For Work

For Devotion

Small Moments

Father’s Meditation

Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk

Quick Meditation at Noon

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