This is a meditation on counting. Counting as a spiritual practice is a reminder to stay present in the current moment, the task at hand and that we are on a journey. Beginning the second night of Passover we count the days until Shavuot. By Counting the Omer we remember the journey from the depths of slavery to the heights of G-d’s Holy Presence. This piece appears in my book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.
The Season of Counting
This is the season of counting:
Of counting days and nights,
Of counting the space between slavery of the body
And freedom of the soul.
This is a season of seeing:
Of seeing earth and sky,
Of seeing renewal in the land
And renewal in our hearts.
This is a season of journey:
Of inner journeys and outer journeys
Taking us places that need us,
Places that we need.
This is the season of counting,
The season of joyous anticipation,
Of wondrous waiting,
In devotion and awe,
For our most precious gift,
The gift that binds our hearts to each other across the millennia,
The gift that binds our souls to G-d’s Holy Word.
© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day
Postscript: Here are links to prayers and meditations for each week of counting the Omer and Shavuot:
- Week One: Chesed (Lovingkindness, Love, Benevolence)
- Week Two: Gevurah (Discipline, Justice, Restraint, Awe)
- Week Three: Tiferet (Beauty, Harmony, Compassion, Truth)
- Week Four: Netzach (Eternity, Endurance, Fortitude, Ambition)
- Week Five: Hod (Humility, Splendor)
- Week Six: Yesod (Foundation, Bonding)
- Week Seven: Malchut – Nobility, Sovereignty, Leadership)
- Shavuot
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: Jan Zabransky on logopond.com
