Tag Archive for "Elul" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘Elul’

For Humility

Posted on: August 4th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is meditation about living a life of humility in service to G-d, ourselves and others. It can be said at any time of the year. It has particular relevance during the Counting the Omer and the Hebrew month of Elul. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Humility
G-d, give me a quiet heart,
A peaceful heart,
A humble heart.
Teach me to be gentle with myself,
So that I may be gentle with others.
Teach me to be patient with myself,
So that I may be patient with others.
Teach me kindness and gratitude,
Joy and humor,
Strength and forgiveness,
Trust and faith,
Openness, willingness and surrender.

To Praise, not to be praised.
To Bless, not to be blessed.
To Glorify, not to be glorified.
To Extol, not to be extolled.
To Sanctify, not to be sanctified.

So that all will go well with your People Israel.

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Photo Credit: Courage for Life

For Wonder and Awe

Posted on: August 1st, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer was not explicitly written either for Counting the Omer or for Yom Kippur. It fits both. The suggestion here, love ourselves enough to live disciplined lives, ties to day 8 of the omer, “lovingkindness in discipline.” The Yom Kippur connection may be more obvious. The voice of classic piyyutim for repentance echo in the second stanza. This prayer poem appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings © 2019 CCAR Press.

For Wonder and Awe
My body is Yours, oh my G-d,
My limbs Your tools, my heart Your dwelling.
Open my heart to receive Your gifts,
Wonder and awe,
Grace and majesty,
Full yet humble,
A symphony of song and delight.

As for me,
I have chased dust in vain pursuit,
Pursued shadows in selfish desire,
Grasped for wind instead of seeking You,
My Rock,
My Holy Shelter.

My body is Yours, O my G-d,
My life abundant,
My moments bursting with love.

Give me new wisdom,
To live by Your word,
To honor Your Holy Name,
So that Your gifts to me
Return to You as blessings.

Postscript: My other prayers of wonder include: “About the Rainbow,” “About the Heavens,” “Come Walk” and “Rejoice!” Click here for the full list of prayers for the Yamim Noraim, the High Holy Days, including brief descriptions and links to each.

Please check out my ELItalk “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 Credit: Wired

For Grace

Posted on: July 28th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is meditation about living a life of grace, humility and love. How? By offering grace to others. This prayer, which is appropriate at any time of the year, has particular relevance during the first week of Counting of the Omer and during the Hebrew month of Elul. This prayer appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

For Grace
All I am,
All I have,
All I’ll become
Are present in this moment:
Warmth and breath,
Love and compassion,
Silence and celebration.
Everything, here.
All gifts, present.

What then, G-d of All Being,
What then of my choices?
What will I make of the space
Between this breath and the next?
Will I bring laughter and light,
Hope and faith,
Wonder and strength?
Will I stand in humble service
For all of my brothers and sisters?

Maker of heaven and earth,
Grant us the wisdom to choose lives of grace,
Lives of vision and understanding,
Seeing each moment as a choice
To bless our companions
With strength and wisdom,
With honor and respect.

Blessed are the gentle moments of grace.

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 Credit: Alden Solovy

To Do Your Will

Posted on: July 26th, 2010 by tobendlight

Since G-d already has given us Abraham and Sarah, Moshe and Miriam, what can I bring to our people in Divine service? Simply this: to ask for the guidance to do G-d’s will in humility and love. This prayer has particular relevance during the month of Elul, as well as week four of the Counting the Omer. See also “For Humility.” This prayer poem appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

To Do Your Will
G-d who made Abraham and Sarah,
Moses and Miriam,
G-d who made scholars and leaders,
The wise and the heroic,
What is my place and my purpose?
What is Your will for this man / woman who stands ready,
In awe of Your radiance and light?

G-d whose voice echoes though time,
Whose blessings flow through our lives,
What is my role and my requirement?
How shall I serve Your glorious and holy name?

This is my longing and my desire:
To do Your will in humility and love.
To hear and to teach.
To see and to bless,
To hold and to honor.
To witness and to wonder.

G-d of generations,
Source of holiness and purpose,
Reveal the mystery of my life,
Open the gates of my heart,
And fill the well of my being
With vigor and delight.
Then my life will stand in tribute to divine justice and mercy,
To the wonder of creation,
To the honor and dedication of our people.

Blessed is the One, Source of truth,
Who reveals meaning and purpose in our daily lives.

Postscript: I have selected this prayer for week four of Counting the Omer, as well as one of my prayers during Elul.

Photo Credit: USDA NRSA Photo Gallery

Rhythms

Posted on: July 23rd, 2010 by tobendlight

This meditation is about contrasting rhythms of life, time moving in a straight line and holiness moving in circles. Although it can be said at any time of the year, it has particular relevance during the Hebrew month of Elul and on Rosh Hashana. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below.

Rhythms
Gracious and compassionate One,
G-d of time and seasons,
You’ve made a world of mystery and wonder.
A world of moments and millennia,
Clarity and confusion,
Illness and health,
Life and death.
Time moves relentlessly forward,
Relentlessly into the unknown,
Relentlessly from the seen into the yet-to-be.
In Your wisdom, G-d of All Being,
Time also moves in cycles and seasons,
Carrying us from the holy to the mundane back to the holy,
A loving pattern of power and grace, comfort and hope.

Protector and Redeemer of Israel,
Grant me wisdom as my life moves forward through the flow of time.
Grant me strength as it turns through the circles of holiness.

Blessed are You, Holy One, who creates and sustains
The rhythms of our lives.

Postscript: Here’s a link to prayers and stories for the Yamim Noraim, listed by topic.

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Photo Source: WikiArt

For Sharing Divine Gifts

Posted on: May 30th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is the third in a series of prayers that call on us to transform suffering into beauty. The two others are: “Regarding Old Wounds” and “For Healing the Spirit.” They each: i) begin with a prophetic tone calling for self refection; ii) move to personal affirmation; iii) offer the core prayer and iv) close with a “chatimah” or “seal” to reinforce the theme, the classic ending of a Jewish prayer. This prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Sharing Divine Gifts
Daughter of man,
Son of woman,
People of divine light:
What do you do with your gifts?
How do you use your radiance
And your might?
Your intellect and your passion?
Do you leave them buried within,
Untouched and unused?
Do you pursue justice and healing,
Charity and consolation?
Men of honor and purpose,
Women of integrity and strength:
Cast off your idle ways.
Banish your selfish pursuits.
Exile your vain hopes.
There is joy in every kindness,
Blessing and salvation in every gift of the heart.

Come you children of G-d,
You witnesses of wonder and awe,
There are miracles inside you,
Holy gifts of communion and grace
That yearn to burst forth in celebration of G-d’s holy name.
Answer the call to Divine service.
Then, your lives will become a blessing,
A well a love,
A source of splendor,
Abundant in joy and courage.

Blessed are You, Source of miraculous gifts,
You rejoice in deeds of the heart.

Postscript: Although all three of the prayers in this series can be said at any time of the year, they have particular relevance during the Hebrew month of Elul. I’ve also selected this prayer for use during week seven of Counting the Omer.

Photo credit: About.com Go Hawaii

On Making a Mistake

Posted on: April 25th, 2010 by tobendlight

Like the Jewish prayers said upon eating bread or lighting Sabbath candles, this is to be said upon making a mistake. This isn’t just about forgiveness. It’s about finding the holiness, the healing and the beauty in the moments after making a mistake. It’s about elevating a mistake into an act of wisdom, charity and love. This prayer can be used as a meditation during the Hebrew month of Elul. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

On Making a Mistake
G-d of realms above and realms below,
Of justice and mercy,
Grant me the understanding that my mistakes
Are teachers and guides,
Pointing me in the direction of my best self,
Leading me toward a path of righteousness,
A path of charity,
A path of love.

Redeemer of Israel,
Bless my mistakes with the power to teach.
Remove the potential for harm.
Give me the strength and wisdom to amend my ways,
To seek forgiveness and live by my ideals
Guided by Your word.

Blessed are You, who reveals the path of righteousness.

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Photo Source: Daily Positive Quotes

Regarding Old Wounds

Posted on: April 18th, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is about the spiritual path, recognizing that it requires a sense of purpose and joy, of love and humility. Why? Because healing can be painful. Much like surgery, it’s often necessary for me to receive my wounds in order to grow. Then I have a profound choice, to live wounded or to let these wounds heal and live from a place of wonder and awe. I use this prayer in week four of Counting the Omer, chesed b’netzach.

Regarding Old Wounds
Daughter of man,
Son of woman,
Children of compassion and sacred secrets:
Your wounds are deep,
Your losses crushing,
Knife on flesh,
Hammer on bone,
Burning your heart and searing your eyes.
Why do you invite them back
To chastise your days
And torture your nights?
Why do you love these old wounds,
Holding them so dear?

Son of celebration,
Daughter of ecstasy:
Cast off your doubts,
Banish your fears,
Exile the pain of time beyond your reach.
There is beauty in your past,
Wonder in your future,
And holiness in each new moment of life.

Come you children of G-d,
You witnesses of suffering and grace,
Lift your heads from your hands,
Raise your voices in song,
Lift your lives in service,
And rekindle the light of compassion and love.
Then, your lives will become a blessing,
A well of hope,
A river of consolation,
A fountain of peace.

Blessed are You, G-d of forgiveness,
You renew our lives with purpose.

Postscript: This piece was part of a collaboration with Lin Batsheva Kahn of the Tikvah Company of Artists and Desiree Miller of the Chicago Civic Orchestra called “Three Prayers,” using my words, original choreography and dance by Lin and original cello music by Desiree. “Three Prayers” premiered in Jerusalem in June 2014 as part of an evening of dance and poetry by Miriam Engel’s Angela Dance Company. This prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Credit: Neshama נשמה Nicole Raisin Stern

To Hear Your Voice

Posted on: April 1st, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer starts with yearning hear G-d’s message, the desire to understand G-d’s will and the humility to seek G-d’s counsel. It ends with the affirmation that G-d’s voice is available to all who listen. This prayer is from a series of prayers that includes: “To Seek Your Glory” and “To Know Your Word.” I use this prayer on the 31st day of the counting of the Omer, Compassion in Humility. This prayer poem appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

To Hear Your Voice
Divine Voice of reason and love,
Of compassion and understanding:
Speak gently and clearly so that I may know Your will.
Give me the patience to listen and the desire to seek
Your counsel and instruction.
Grant me the understanding to hear Your teachings in every voice,
From all people,
In every moment of need.
Open my heart to others,
To their suffering,
To their call for help.
Open my heart to love and laughter,
Song and dance,
Beauty and grace,
So that I remember to celebrate Your gifts day by day.

Divine Creator of spirit and light,
Teach me to hold my joys and sorrows gently in my hands
And to honor them both.
Teach me to be present to all that I see and all that I feel,
In truth, without fear.
Teach me to be present for others,
In humble service.

Blessed are You,
Teacher and Guide,
You make Your wisdom known to those who ask
And those who listen, willingly and patiently,
To the voices of Your creation.

Blessed are You, Your Voice resounds throughout creation.

Postscript: Here are three related prayers: “Prayers of My Heart,” “Whispered Prayer” and “Prayer for You, Prayer for Me.” Please check out my book, This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings.

Photo Credit: Nemoy Fine Arts

For Healing the Spirit

Posted on: March 22nd, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer opens by summoning the prophetic voice, asking that we examine our lives, that we examine why we waste our days in grief and despair. Then the prayer turns to the power we have to make our lives holy, asking us to walk toward holiness. This is one of a set of three related prayers, including “Regarding Old Wounds” and “For Sharing Divine Gifts.” All three appear in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Healing the Spirit
Daughter of man,
Son of woman,
Children of love and divine union:
Why do you stay buried in your losses,
Crushed by your burdens,
Drowned by your fears?
Why do you look down to the dust
When the morning sky
Bursts with daybreak?
When the night
Shimmers with starlight?
Why do you shuffle your feet
When the earth calls out
To feel your dance?

Daughter of majestic gifts,
Son of glorious secrets:
Cast off your sorrows.
Banish your pain.
Exile your grief.
There is joy in every breath,
Mystery in every sky.

Come you children of G-d,
You witnesses of life and loss:
Walk with dignity toward holiness
And with grace toward healing.
Walk with confidence into each moment
And with passion into each new day.
Then your lives will become a blessing,
A divine teacher,
An instrument of heaven,
A messenger of hope.

Blessed are You, Creator of life,
You heal the broken spirit with love.

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Postscript: Although all three of the prayers in this series have particular relevance during the Hebrew month of Elul. I’ve selected this prayer for using during week four of Counting the Omer. Here are more prayers for healing: “For a Critically-Ill Child,” “For Surgery” and “Upon Recovery from Surgery.”

Photo Credit: Neshama Life

Posts Tagged ‘Elul’

For Humility

For Wonder and Awe

For Grace

To Do Your Will

Rhythms

For Sharing Divine Gifts

On Making a Mistake

Regarding Old Wounds

To Hear Your Voice

For Healing the Spirit

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