Tag Archive for "healing" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘healing’

For Paris

Posted on: November 14th, 2015 by Alden

This is a prayer of solidarity and healing after Friday night’s terror attack in Paris. Here’s a link to this prayer translated into French.

For Paris
Author of life,
Man has turned violent,
Crushing lives,
Upending dreams,
Attacking the heart of a democratic nation
With vitriol and hatred
In coordinated acts of calculated terror.

Source and Creator,
Grant a perfect rest under your tabernacle of peace
To the victims of terror in Paris,
Innocents murdered and wounded,
Men and women whose lives were cut off by witless aggression.

Remember the survivors of this horror.
Grant them shelter and solace,
Comfort and consolation,
Blessing and renewal.
Grant them endurance to survive,
Strength to rebuild,
Faith to mourn,
Courage to heal,
And devotion to each other.

Heavenly Guide,
Hand of love and shelter,
Grant the people of Paris Your protection,
Your wholeness and healing,
And Your peace.

Guide divin,
Main d’amour et refuge,
Accorde aux peuple de Paris Ta protection,
Ta guérison et ton intégrité,
Et accorde-leur Ta paix.

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Photo credit: Grazia

R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul (General)

Posted on: September 30th, 2015 by Alden

This brief healing prayer is for all those whose hearts ache, those with troubled souls. It is a general version of “R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul,” which is said for a specific person.

R’fuat HaNefesh (General)
G-d of the spirit,
G-d of the soul, the breath and the wind,
Look with kindness and favor on those
Whose hearts ache, crushed and fallow,
Whose hearts yearn, empty and broken.
G-d of the nefesh, ruach and neshama,
Guide their souls
Back to wonder and mystery,
Sacred moments and glorious days,
So that they know the power of Your love
And the wisdom of Your word.
May their souls shine,
With light and blessing
For our people Israel.

Postscript: Other prayers for healing include: “For Surgery,” “Upon Recover from Surgery,” “For a Critically Ill Mother,” “For a Critically Ill Child,” “For a Critically Ill Father” and “For Healing the Spirit.” All of them appear in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

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: GenaLivings.com

Birthday, No More

Posted on: August 20th, 2015 by Alden

Here’s a prayer to be said on the birthday of a deceased loved one. My sense of sorrow and loss return on the birth dates of my dad Jack z”l and my wife Ami z”l. Word choices are separated with a slash (“/”). Optional lines appear in [brackets]. This appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. I also use this prayer on Father’s Day and, thinking of my children, on Mother’s Day.

Birthday, No More
This empty space in time,
In my heart,
Is yours dear ___________ [relationship].
It is the space for yearning,
The space of memory,
The day your light came into the world.
A day of sorrow for what was lost,
Birthdays that will never be.

This day touches
The depths of my grief and loss.
This day touches
A wound and makes it new.

G-d of generations,
Be with me [and my/our family]
As we remember what was
And what might have been.

I/We miss you.

Postscript: I’m posting this in memory of my father, born August 20, 1925. On that same date, 63 years later, he received his cancer diagnosis and died 10 days later, August 30, 1988, corresponding to 17 Elul 5748. Some of my other prayers about death include: “Near the End: A Meditation,” “On Removing a Child’s Life Support,” “Meditation on the Burial of a Young Child,” “On the Journey to My Child’s Passing,” “After Shiva” and “Shall I Cry.” Here’s a list of memorial and yizkor prayers.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Re’eh: Cutting, A Prayer to End Self-Mutilation

Posted on: August 13th, 2015 by Alden

Self-mutilation is as old as the Bible. That grief came to mind reading this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh. “Ye are the children of Adonai your G-d; you shall not cut yourselves…” (Deut. 14:1) In ancient days, the practice was to gash oneself as a sign of mourning. Today, some people cut to manifest grief on their bodies, others say it creates a sense of calm in the face of depression, typically hiding the injuries in shame. This is a prayer on behalf of those who self-mutilate, including an option in [brackets] to name a specific person. It’s built on a prayer titled “My Child’s Self-Inflicted Wounds,” a prayer for parents of children who self-harm with drugs, alcohol, sex or violence against themselves.

Cutting: A Prayer to End Self-Mutilation
Child of G-d,
Please do not cut yourself.
You are holy, a gift,
Unique in this world.

What grief has taken root in your heart?
What sorrow has consumed your joy?
How deep is your pain that you take a blade
To your own flesh?

G-d of Old,
We call out to You
From the depths of confusion and fear.
What balm will ease this distress?
What consolation will end this torment?
What blessing will guide them back to wholeness,
Back to self-respect,
Back to love?

G-d of renewal,
Bless those who harm themselves with a blade.
Grant them comfort and well-being,
Healing of mind,
Healing of body
And healing of spirit.
Teach them to see the world through Your eyes,
As a place of joy and adventure.
[And look with care on __________________________ (name),
Who also suffers at her/his own hand.]
Grant them all the ability to be gentle and forgiving on themselves.
Lead them to new ways of expression on the path to happiness and peace.

For those of you who cannot find relief,
We pray that that time will soon come.
You are a gift of G-d in the eyes of heaven,
In our eyes, too,
And in our hearts,
Which bleed with your skin,
And our love will not end.

Child of G-d,
Please do not cut yourself.
You are holy, a gift,
Unique in this world.

Postscript: The majority of the illustrations I found online for this prayer are remarkably disturbing. See also: “My Child’s Self-Inflicted Wounds” and other prayers for mental health, including “My Depression” and “Mental Illness.” They appear in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Source: Self Harm Daily

Quick Prayer for Compassion

Posted on: July 19th, 2015 by Alden

Here’s another in my “Quick Prayer” series, short prayers focused on a particular topic. The last line includes a choice to use either Hebrew or English for the concept of repairing the world, with the choice separated by a slash (“/”). Here’s another prayer “For Compassion.”

Quick Prayer for Compassion
G-d of mercy,
You endowed us with sympathy and compassion,
Giving us moments of rejoicing
And moments of sorrow.
Help me to turn them both into blessings.
Let me remember the joys,
So that I bring them into the world as hope.
Let me remember the pain,
So that I bring it into the world as healing.

Blessed are You, G-d of love,
Let Your gifts fill our days,
Let Your wisdom fills our hearts,
In service to tikkun olam / repairing the world.

Postscript: This prayer can also be used during Elul and during the Counting of the Omer. For a related but harder-edged prayer, see “Witnessing: A Meditation.”

Tweetable! Here’a suggested tweet. Please tweet it (with link): Lovely “Quick Prayer for Compassion” by @tobendlight at: https://tobendlight.com/?p=13322

Photo Source: A Yoga Life

Breathe

Posted on: July 12th, 2015 by Alden

This prayer is a simple reminder to breathe and the gifts that coming from simply being. It includes a space to include a name, yours or someone else’s, so that you can use it as reminder to yourself or as a hope for someone else. Six other pieces of mine include the instruction to breathe. Three of my favorites are: “Sing Praises,” “We Are Music” and “Invitations.”

Breathe
Listen, dear __________ (your name or another name),
Remember to breathe,
Remember to fill your chest
With the sweet taste of living,
To fill your heart
With a gentle gift of peace.
The breath of God
Surrounds you.
Let it flow through you.
The pulse of the universe
Beats with you.
Let it enliven you.
Invite your inhale,
The willingness of this moment.
Release your exhale,
And surrender to being.
Fill your lungs.
Feel them.
Feed them.
Heal them.
And you will know,
The majesty of now,
And the mystery
Of forever.

Postscript: My three other prayers with the instruction to breathe are: “Choosing to Heal,” “Let Your Heart Stir” and “Rules for Being Me in Jerusalem.”

Tweetable! Here’a suggested tweet. Please tweet it (with link): “…fill your heart with a gentle gift of peace. The breath of God surrounds you…” https://tobendlight.com/?p=13239

Photo Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library

Chukat: Living Waters

Posted on: June 21st, 2015 by Alden

In Chukat, this week’s parasha, the prophet Miriam dies. After she’s buried, the scene abruptly shifts to the lack of water in the wilderness. We’re left wondering: How did the people mourn her loss? To get water, G-d tells Moses to gather the people and speak with a rock. Instead, Moses strikes the rock with his staff. Water pours out. Rabbi Sharyn Henry notes that Moses hasn’t yet mourned for Miriam. Striking the rock, she says, is his reaction to unexpressed grief. The water and his tears are the same. This prayer is based on Rabbi Henry’s midrash.

Living Waters
Let the well of living waters
Flow through me
From the Source,
From ancient pools
Of holiness and light,
Ancient pools that sustain the body
And soothe the heart.

My grief has turned
My heart to stone,
My sorrow and loneliness
Have hardened my veins.
Crack me open with Your divine rod.
Release my tears with your staff.
Let me know wholeness
And peace,
Once again.

Postscript: As a result of striking the rock, Moses is denied entry to the Promised Land. Rabbis have struggled with explaining why so small a sin would yield so major a punishment. One common explanation is that, with his act, Moses diminished a miracle of G-d. I propose taking Rabbi Henry’s midrash a step further to explain Moses’ punishment, as well. Moses has a direct and intimate relationship with G-d; we’re told that that relationship is unlike any that came before or will come after. Instead of turning to G-d for healing, Moses holds his grief inside and finally lashes out. He, of all people, should have known to turn to G-d. Perhaps his sin can be understood as withdrawing from G-d. For Moses, that would be quite a sin, indeed.

Photo Source: Diodocs

For Mother Emanuel / Church of the Multiplication: Racist Violence against Houses of Worship

Posted on: June 18th, 2015 by Alden

On Wednesday night, nine people were killed during a shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, an historic black church in Charleston, S.C. The oldest AME church in the south, it’s referred to as “Mother Emanuel.” Across continents Thursday morning, arsonists set fire to the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fish on the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). Most of the damage occurred roof; two people suffered smoke inhalation. Given the time zone differences, these acts of violence and cowardice — the preparations, the police responses — were quite possibly playing out at the same time. Here are two prayers in response.

For Mother Emanuel: A Memorial and Healing Prayer
Author of life
Source and Creator,
Grant a perfect rest under your tabernacle of peace
To those who lost their lives the attack on Mother Emanuel,
Whose lives were cut off by violence,
An act of witless aggression.
Put an end to anger, hatred and fear
And lead us to a time when no one will suffer at the hand of another.
May their souls be bound up in the bond of life,
A living blessing in our midst.

G-d of justice and mercy,
Remember the survivors of this attack,
And the victims of any disaster,
Any violence, suffering or despair.
Grant them shelter and solace,
Comfort and consolation,
Blessing and renewal.
Grant them endurance to survive,
Strength to rebuild,
Faith to mourn,
Courage to heal,
And devotion to each other.

Heavenly Guide,
Hand of love and shelter,
Grant the people of Mother Emanuel Your protection,
Your wholeness and healing,
And Your peace.

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
Mother Emanuel and the Church of the Multiplication
And the loss of precious life.

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.

Postscript: The prayer “For Mother Emanuel” is an adaptation of “Violence in Mumbai.” The prayer “Racist Violence against Houses of Worship” is an adaptation of “For the Yazidi People.”

Photo Source: Wikipedia

Prayer after Abuse by Clergy

Posted on: June 14th, 2015 by Alden

ADDENDUM: 18 Feb 2022 – First written in 2015 as a result of the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, with sadness I’ve slightly modified the prayer in the wake of the ethics report just released by the Union for Reform Judaism on sexual harassment, abuse, and misconduct in URJ institutions, offered as a step toward tikkun, repair, and refuah, healing. May the work continue.

[Original Introduction] This is a difficult prayer addressing the abuse of power by clergy that — once hidden and disregarded — has become painfully obvious. Such revelations may offer a first needed step to healing. The prayer is written to be flexible, employing optional lines [in brackets] with which individuals may tailor the prayer.

Prayer after Abuse by Clergy
You had no right.
You had no right.
You abused your power.
You abused my trust
You abused our time together, [with manipulation] [and with force].
You abused G-d’s word.
You abused my hopes,
My heart,
My joy, my body, my self.
[I loved you. Damn, I loved you.]

[G-d of Old,
How could you let this happen?
How can this exist in Your world?
How can this happen in Your house?
How could this be perpetrated in Your name?
Damn, I loved You, too.]

In the shadow of this grief,
This yearning and despair,
I turn to You,
Ancient One,
To show me the path
To wholeness and consolation.
Teach me to trust,
To love [again] with fullness of heart.
Teach me willingness to surrender to awe and beauty.
Teach me to treat myself with patience and kindness.
Bless me that I may live fully, with zest and zeal.

G-d of compassion,
Heal all who have suffered abuse by clergy.
Bring us from darkness to light.
Bring justice to those who commit these crimes.
Heal the holy congregations who pray in Your name.
Make us all, now and forever, whole again.

Photo Source: The Inadvertent Gardener

Beha’alotcha 5775: Three Quick Prayers for Healing (Revised)

Posted on: June 3rd, 2015 by Alden

At the end of this week’s Torah portion, Moses says a quick five-word prayer for healing his sister Miriam: “Please G-d, heal her now.” (Numbers 12:13) Here are three revisions of my “Quick Prayers for Healing:” a general version, asking for healing for all in need; one that names a specific individual in need of healing; and a third for individuals to say for their own healing. The revisions each include a new line reflecting Moses’ prayer for Miriam. Note that optional lines appear in [brackets], gender choices are identified with a “/” slash and the place to insert a name is shown with a blank line. The original versions of these prayers appear in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Quick Prayer for Healing – General (Revised)
G-d of love,
Cast the light of health and well-being
On the injured, the infirm and the insecure,
All who yearn for Your healing hand.
Bless them with healing of body
Healing of soul
And healing of spirit.
Please G-d, heal them now.
Grant all in need a full and complete recovery.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Source of Life.

Quick Prayer for Healing – Specific (Revised)
G-d of love,
Cast the light of health and well-being on
________________ (add name),
[His/her family]
And all who are injured, infirm or insecure,
Those who yearn for Your healing hand.
Bless them with healing of body
Healing of soul
And healing of spirit.
Please G-d, heal them now.
Grant all in need a full and complete recovery.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Source of Life.

Quick Prayer for My Healing (Revised)
G-d of love,
Cast the light of health and well-being on me [and on my family]
And all who are injured, infirm or insecure.
We yearn for Your healing hand.
Bless us with healing of body
Healing of soul
And healing of spirit.
Please G-d, heal us now.
Grant all in need a full and complete recovery.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Source of Life.

Postscript: Other prayers in my “Quick Prayers” series include: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” “Quick Prayer for Healing” was first posted on October 3, 2012. The other two prayers were originally posted together as “Quick Prayers for Healing” on January 29, 2013.

Photo Credit: Jewish Medicine

Posts Tagged ‘healing’

For Paris

R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul (General)

Birthday, No More

Re’eh: Cutting, A Prayer to End Self-Mutilation

Quick Prayer for Compassion

Breathe

Chukat: Living Waters

For Mother Emanuel / Church of the Multiplication: Racist Violence against Houses of Worship

Prayer after Abuse by Clergy

Beha’alotcha 5775: Three Quick Prayers for Healing (Revised)

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