Posts Tagged ‘hope’

 

Quick Prayer at a Turning Point

Posted on: June 16th, 2012 by tobendlight

ChangeSign1I find myself making decisions quickly as I settle into my new life in Israel. Not knowing the basic rules of living as an insider–culture, social norms, business etiquette, traffic laws, you name it–comes down to getting good advice and going on instinct. This is from my series of “Quick Prayers,” to be said when making a decision which will change life in fundamental ways.

Quick Prayer at a Turning Point
Holy one,
Grant me wisdom and grace
As I make choices
That will change the rhythm of my life
And the pattern of my days.
Bless me with the ability to
Listen for Your guidance,
Trust my decisions,
Embrace the unknown
And rejoice in the adventure.

Blessed are You, Source of strength,
Let these choices become blessings
Of health and prosperity,
Of happiness and service,
For me and everyone I touch.

© 2012 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Other prayers in this series include: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.”

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This Moment

Posted on: June 3rd, 2012 by tobendlight

IMG_1925Every moment is another opportunity to teach and to serve, to summon holiness and love into the world. This appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

This Moment
How did I arrive in this place?
This joy and wonder.
This grief and loss.
This hour. This moment. This life.
Choices. Events. G-d.
My decisions. The decisions of others.
The hand of our Creator.

Holy One,
Help me to see that I am exactly
Where I need to be
To learn and to serve,
To be and to become,
To live as an instrument of healing and love,
Charity and forgiveness,
Kindness and grace.

How did I arrive in this moment?
How did I get this blessing,
This gift,
To be exactly where I can learn and serve
In G-d’s Holy Name?

© 2012 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Here are more prayers with a similar theme: “Being Present,” “Leaving” and “Small Moments.”

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Photo Source: Alden Solovy (in the Grand Canyon)

Inside the Light

Posted on: May 22nd, 2012 by tobendlight

600px-Sextans_B_Hubble_WikiSkyAnother song of the spiritual traveler, whose secret hope is for you to feel the light, to hear the light, to know the light, to become the light. This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

Inside the Light
A rainbow shines
Inside the light.
If you could be the dew drop
You would always see it.

Stillness waits
Inside the light.
If you could be the sky
You would always feel it.

The sunrise dawns
Inside the light.
If you could be the horizon
You would always find it.

Freedom flows
Inside the light.
If you could be the wind
You would always ride it.

Beauty rises
Inside the light.
If you could be the sparrow
You would always reach it.

Mystery pulses
Inside the light.
If you could be the wonder
You would always know it.

Majesty reigns
Inside the light.
If you could be the wisdom
You would always hear it.

Faith rests
Inside the light.
If you could be the eagle
You would always hold it.

Your soul glows
Inside the light.
If you could be yourself
You would never leave it.

© 2021 CCAR Press from This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer

Postscript: I wrote this on the airplane from Chicago to Newark on my way to Israel to make aliyah in 2012. Other songs of the spiritual traveler include: “Come Walk,” “Bird is Bird,” “River,” “Soarbird” and “I am Breathing.”

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 Source: WikiMedia Commons

Season of Sorrow

Posted on: May 16th, 2012 by tobendlight

Sad_WomanThis is a prayer to turn seasons of sorrow into seasons of hope. Many of my friends appear to have a season that they associate with sorrow, a time when endings and bad moments appear to cluster. I wrote this in late March, thinking about the third anniversary of Ami’s z”l death. I’ve come to think of April as my season of loss. But I also met her in late April, just after my birthday. Two huge gains. Why did I let my sorrows define the season? This appears in my book, This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day.

Season of Sorrow
This is my season of sorrow.
A time when struggles recur and challenges arrive,
A time of endings and distress.
In this season I’ve known
Moments of pain,
Moments of sadness,
Moments of confusion.
Times of loss and
Times of grief,
Moments that stripped me of wisdom
And left me crushed and breathless,
Cold and in deepening shadow.

Holy One,
Help me recall my seasons of joy,
To recall with hope and praise
Your gifts and blessings.
Moments of laughter.
Moments of kindness.
Moments of peace.
Times of health. Times of clarity.
Moments that lifted my spirit
And comforted my heart.

In truth,
These joys and sorrows
Are gifts of holiness,
Gifts of mystery,
Gifts beyond my wisdom,
My knowledge,
My understanding.

Rock and Redeemer,
You are my comfort and my strength,
My light and my truth.

© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers For a New Day

Postscript: Here are other prayers about transitions and transformations: “Leaving,” “River” “Rhythms” and “Transitions.”

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!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Powerful Men

Posted on: May 6th, 2012 by tobendlight

Here’s another prayer in my series for men. It’s a brief call to action — inspired by the men of ManKind Project around the world — summoning men to use their power in service of humanity. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

Powerful Men
Men of honor,
Men of strength,
The world yearns for you.
Your wisdom, your courage, your vitality.
The call has come.

Men of conscience,
Men of understanding,
Summon the energy that is deep in your belly,
Steeped into your bones,
That heats your blood and fires your eyes,
And hold it as rod and staff,
Guide and compass,
To build, to heal,
To honor, to bless.

G-d of Majesty,
Teach me to use this power
In service to others
In the name of holiness and love,
So that I become a source of compassion and grace,
A light of awe and wonder.

© 2012 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Click here for a list of prayer and meditations for men. Two of my favorites are: “My Courage” and “My Work Remains.”

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 Source: Photo is © Gregory Tapler Photograpy; poster designed by Boysen Hodgson for MKP

Prayers for and About Israel

Posted on: April 25th, 2012 by tobendlight

PikiWiki_Israel_2482_independence_day_aerial_demonstration_מטס_יום_העצמאותHere are meditations and prayers for and about Israel. They are divided into two categories: Israel, Our Home; and, For Safety and Peace.

Israel, Our Home

For Safety and Peace

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: אורן פלס, via PikiWikiIsrael and WikiMedia Commons

For First Responders

Posted on: April 17th, 2012 by tobendlight

This is a prayer for first responders as they head into a moment of crisis. It asks for the physical and emotional safety of these brave professionals and volunteers in the face of the dangers ahead.

Addendum, Oct. 30, 2012: See also “For First Responders (Revised).” This new version includes an optional paragraph for families of first responders, as well as slight modifications in the rhythm.

For First Responders
Crisis and chaos,
Confusion and loss,
A scene of sweeping destruction,
The first responders arrive
Among the breathless and dazed,
The frenzied, driven wild with fear and grief,
The incapacitated, the dead,
The weary, the lost, the injured,
And survivors forcing themselves
Beyond their limits
To fight devastation.

G-d whose ways are secret,
Bless these first responders with endurance
To be of maximum service in this moment of immeasurable need.
Bless their limbs with strength,
Their eyes with courage,
Their hands with gentleness,
So that they become a source of hope and love.
Give them the tools they need in the days and hours ahead.
Protect them from physical harm,
Shield them from emotional pain,
And guard them from taking this trauma into themselves.

G-d of justice and mercy,
May the deeds of the first responders
Find favor in Heaven
And bring healing on earth.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: The prayer is a generalized version of a previous piece called “For First Responders to the Earthquake in Haiti.” It was written at the request of the Columbia County Fire Department Auxiliary, Lake City, Fla., for use in their fundraiser cookbook. See also “Yizkor for First Responders” and “Memorial Prayer for 9/11 First Responders.”

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.

To the Terrorist: We Stand Strong, We Pray for Peace

Posted on: March 12th, 2012 by tobendlight

National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTCIs it possible to pray for the terrorist? This is my attempt, written to commemorate 9-11 and reposted in 2012 as Israel faces a missile barrage from Gaza. This prayer is from “A Liturgy for 9-11.” To listen, click on the triangle in the bar below.

 

To the Terrorist
You who would hold the sky captive,
The sea prisoner,
The land in chains…

You who hide in caves,
Retreat to the wilderness,
Disappear behind false names and forged papers…

You who smuggle guns and arms,
Hide rockets in cities and bombs in homes,
Build weapons against the innocent and the bystander…

You whose designs are destruction,
Whose plans are fear,
Whose joy is hate…

You who harden your hearts
And wrap yourselves in death…
What evil has robbed you of your love,
Your compassion,
Your goodness,
Your humanity?
What lies have invaded your minds
So that you choose to die in order to kill?

We who love our lives and liberty
Stand firm and strong against terror.
We will defend our nation and our people.
We will protect our land and our homes.
And we pray for you to find hope and comfort
In lives of peace.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This prayer was first posted on April 28, 2011, as part of my Liturgy for 9-11, which was written for the HUC-JIR continuing education blog Tzeh U’limad. It was reposted separately with audio on August 2, 2011. Here’s a prayer called “Israel: A Meditation” and one “For Peace in the Middle East.”

Please 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.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Japan: One Year Later

Posted on: March 11th, 2012 by tobendlight

One year ago today Japan’s largest recorded earthquake unleashed a tsunami that slammed into its eastern coast. To commemorate those events, here’s a prayer that I wrote as the resulting nuclear tragedy unfolded. Click here for two more prayers “For the People of Japan,” one for healing and one for the first responders. To listen along while you read, please click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Japan
G-d of earth and sea,
Of ocean and shore,
Hear the voices of our
Brothers and sisters from Japan:

Our eyes know horror,
Our bodies know fear,
Our limbs know terror,
And catastrophes mount.
We are bereaved and bereft,
Injured and wounded
After earthquake and tsunami,
A tide of death and devastation.
This nation that knows atomic destruction
Now faces nuclear calamity.

Heal this land, G-d of Old.
Heal this people, G-d of Mercy.
Heal this nation, G-d of Justice.
May the suffering end and the disasters cease.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This prayer first appeared here on March 14, 2011.

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Messengers

Posted on: February 17th, 2012 by tobendlight

Holding-Hands-TogetherThis is a prayer about those people we meet along the way who are reminders of how G-d wants us to live, with outstretched hands and open hearts. This prayer echoes the themes of kindness from strangers and service to others found in several of my prayers, poems and meditations. Here are two of them: On the Road” and “For Service.” This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Messengers
G-d of awe and wonder,
Your messengers are all around,
Leading us on Your path,
Guiding us to joy and love.
Open my eyes to the teachers in our midst,
Leading us to Torah and chesed,
Righteousness and charity,
With their kindness and their gentle deeds.
Open my heart to know and to understand their ways,
Their joy in service to You
Through their service to others,
So that I may become
A source of Your blessings.

Holy One,
Well of Mercy,
Praise to You in heaven and on earth.
Praise for Your messengers among us.
Praise for the Sabbath of our days.
Praise for the Sabbath of our hearts.

Blessed are You, Rock of generations,
Source of All Being,
You plant the seeds
Of holiness among us.

© 2019 CCAR Press from This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings

Postscript: See also: “On the Road” and “For Service.”

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: Israel Seen

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