Tag Archive for "garden"

Posts Tagged ‘garden’

Tending Gardens

Posted on: January 6th, 2015 by Alden

Some gardens are tended by our hands. Others are tended by G-d’s will. This is a meditation on both the willingness to act in order to create beauty, as well as the power of refraining from action in order observe the beauty that arises from this amazing planet. This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

Tending Gardens
Wildflowers bloom,
A field of colors,
A meadow on a hillside,
Wild and free,
Tended by sun and rain,
Gently painted by the will of the earth.

Another place of delight,
My garden blooms,
A blueprint from my heart,
Guided by my hand
Tended with love and affection
Planted according to my design.

G-d of splendor,
Grant me the willingness to plant gardens
And the wisdom to leave other gardens
To Your loving hand.
Teach me the beauty of doing
And glory not doing.
Grant me the power to act
And the strength to refrain.
Let my will to create,
And my willingness to accept,
Find balance and harmony
In my heart and in my hands,
So that my doing,
And my not doing,
Serve Your will
And Your world.

Postscript: Other prayers that use the “garden” metaphor include: “Life as a Garden” and “Garden of Blessings.”

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Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Planting Seeds

Posted on: June 13th, 2012 by tobendlight

This prayer recognizes that everything we do has the potential to heal or to harm. So we ask for G-d’s help to plant seeds of holiness with each word, each act, each deed.

Planting Seeds
Every act is a seed:
Every laugh, every smile.
Every song, every dance.
Every outstretched arm
And every open heart.
A seed of holiness.
A seed of redemption.
A seed of grace.

Every act is a seed:
Every frown, every angry word.
Every dislike, every distain.
Every closed fist,
And every hardened heart.
A seed of loneliness.
A seed of isolation.
A seed of despair.

How many seeds have I planted,
G-d of Old,
Seeds that hurt,
Seeds that heal?
How many seeds have I yet to plant,
Seeds that hurt,
Seeds that heal?

Ancient One,
Grant me the discernment
And the skill
To plant seeds of wonder and awe
In my life and the world.
Let me be a source of wholeness,
Let me be a source of thanksgiving,
So that my life yields
A garden of blessings
In service to Your Holy Name.

Postscript: Here are several other prayers that use the ‘seeds’ metaphor: “Messengers,” “For New Love” and “I Am a King: A Meditation for Men.” Here are prayers that employ a ‘garden’ metaphor: “Life as a Garden,” “Garden of Blessings,” “For Spring,” “Meditation on a Child’s First Torah Reading” and “For Rain.”

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Life as a Garden

Posted on: December 15th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is a metaphor with the intention of prayer, calling each of us to have a certain humility for ourselves and the world, tending even the most mundane details of our lives with a sense of awe and compassion. It’s from a set of prayers with a common structure, including: “Life as a Banquet,” “Life as a Ceremony” and “Life as a Symphony.” These prayers appear in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below.

Life as a Garden
G-d of majestic moments,
Source of splendor,
Creator of radiance,
Divine light of renewal and joy,
My knowledge has its limits,
My insights are fleeting,
My wisdom emanates from an ancient font of holiness and wonder.
What I witness and what I comprehend are blessings and gifts.

Heavenly hand of possibilities and potential,
Artist of all creation,
Grant me the dignity to live my life as a garden,
Planting moments of kindness and grace,
Gently removing the thorns and bramble,
Nourishing each new blessing with the light of love and peace.
You who bring awareness and understanding,
Guide me with purpose,
Teach me with patience,
Show me the gentle path,
So that I live a life of commitment and devotion,
In celebration of Your creation.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
G-d of life, Author of beauty and grandeur.

Postscript: I use this for the 19th day of counting the Omer, “Humility in Compassion.” For an overview of the structure of the prayers in this series, see “Life as a Ceremony.” See also: “Life as a Symphony” and “Life as a Banquet.”

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: The Way of Beauty

Posts Tagged ‘garden’

Tending Gardens

Planting Seeds

Life as a Garden

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