Tag Archive for "hope" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘hope’

For My Child’s Surgery

Posted on: August 16th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer is for parents to say before a child’s surgery. Gender choices are identified with a “/” slash. Here’s a related prayer “For a Critically Ill Child.” This will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For My Child’s Surgery
G-d of health and healing,
I surrender my daughter /son to the physician’s hand,
The surgeon’s knife,
The nurse’s care,
Placing her / his body in the cradle of others,
Just as I pray for you to hold her / his soul with Your loving hands.

Bless her / his surgeon with a steady hand,
Keen vision and a passion for healing.
Bless her / his caregivers with wisdom and skill,
With compassion, focus and dedication.
Bless our family with ease and comfort,
Energy and endurance, tranquility and peace.

Source of life,
Bring Your healing power to my daughter / son
_______________ (child’s name in Hebrew or your native tongue).
Remove her / his pain,
Relieve her / his distress,
And cure her / his body, mind and spirit.
Bless her / him with strength, courage and hope
So that she / he may know life and health,
Joy and love.
And grant her / him a full and speedy recovery.

Blessed are You, G-d of mystery,
Source of health and healing.

Postscript: This prayer is adapted from “For Surgery.” Other prayers for healing include: “Upon Recover from Surgery,” “For a Critically Ill Mother,” “For a Critically Ill Child,” “For a Critically Ill Father” and “For Healing the Spirit.”

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R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul

Posted on: August 5th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a lovely prayer for healing the soul directed toward a specific individual. It did not, however, come off as planned. I intended to write a prayer/poem in praise of the soul. Instead, I wrote this prayer for healing the soul. It prayer appears in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. Optional language is shown in [brackets] and word choices are identified with a slash (/). To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

R’fuat HaNefesh
G-d of the spirit,
G-d of the soul, the breath and the wind,
Look with kindness and favor on __________________, (name)
My [father /mother / sister / brother / son / daughter / friend / husband / wife / partner]
Whose heart aches,
Crushed and fallow,
Whose heart yearns,
Empty and broken.
G-d of the nefesh, ruach and neshama,
Guide his / her soul
Back to wonder and mystery,
Sacred moments and glorious days,
So that he /she knows the power of Your love
And the wisdom of Your word.
May his / her soul shine,
A 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 my new book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

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Photo Source: ifDawn.com

Small Moments

Posted on: July 28th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer is about seeking the smallest moments of beauty and compassion. When we seek compassion, our souls bonds with the idea that it is an essential human quality. The prayer was written, in part, as an antidote to another of my prayers, a challenging piece called “Witnessing: A Meditation.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Small Moments
Have you seen the secret nod of understanding between old friends?
Or the first wobbly steps of a child?
Have you heard an old man sigh as he sits down in a chair?
Have you captured, from the corner of your eye,
An act of gentle sweetness,
A fleeting gesture nearly missed as you rushed by?

Listen and hear.
Look and see.
Touch and feel.
Breath and smell.
Taste and remember.

Do you recall the radiance of sunrise?
Or the brilliance of the full moon?
Do you savor the small moments
Of joy and wonder bursting forth around you?
Do you notice the gifts of friendship, kindness and love?
If you do, bless you.
If you don’t, these blessings await you.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Source of daily splendor,
You gave us vision and understanding
So that we can witness and celebrate
Acts of generous spirit,
Expressions of compassion and healing,
The tiniest gestures of holiness and love.
Open our hearts to the precious glories of our days.

Blessed are You, Holy One of Old,
Beauty abounds.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 20th day of counting the Omer: “Bonding in Compassion.”

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: Good Life Zen

For A Critically-Ill Father

Posted on: July 27th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a healing prayer for fathers, structured in parallel to my prayer “For a Critically-Ill Mother.” My prayer “For a Critically-Ill Child” has a decidedly different structure and tempo. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows. This prayer will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

For A Critically-Ill Father
Holy One,
G-d of health and healing,
My father’s body is failing.
Illness holds him.
Grief and fear hold me.

Ancient One,
Well of hope,
Grant my father
A quick and complete recovery.
Relieve his suffering.
Remove his pain.
Return him to health.
Restore him to life.

Rock of my heart,
Comfort and shelter,
You know the path ahead.
You know the journey.
You hear our prayers.
G-d who healed Miriam in the desert,
Bring Your healing power to my father
_______________ (father’s name in Hebrew or your native tongue)
So that he may know life and health,
Joy and peace.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Creator of fatherly wisdom and strength,
Source of love,
Rock of life.

Postscript: Other prayers for healing include: “For a Critically Ill Child,” “For a Critically Ill Mother,” “For Surgery,” “Upon Recovery from Surgery” and “For Healing the Spirit.”

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Father’s Meditation

Posted on: July 20th, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s another prayer written with my own children in mind.

Father’s Meditation
Gracious and Compassionate One,
Mother of the Universe,
Father of Life,
Source and Shelter,
Hear this prayer:

My children are Yours,
To guide and protect with Your strong hand,
To nurture and care with Your outstretched arm,
To hold and heal with Your loving ways.
Grant them vitality and fortitude
As they build lives of their own.
Fill their days with friendship and hope,
Joy and adventure,
Thanksgiving and peace.
Ease their burdens and relieve their struggles.
Grant them years of prosperity and serenity,
Wisdom and courage,
Gratitude and wonder.
May they enjoy the fruits of Your creation
In service to Torah and our People Israel.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
G-d of our ancestors,
G-d of generations.

Postscript: Another prayer that I wrote for my daughters is called “For Bereaved Children.” And here’s a parent’s prayer for when “My Child Leaves Home.”

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For Summer

Posted on: July 10th, 2011 by tobendlight

A prayer for the new season that appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. Other seasonal prayers that appear in This Grateful Heart include: “For Winter,” “For Summer,” “For Autumn” and “For Rain.”

For Summer
Heat and light,
Day overtakes night,
Warm air settles over the earth,
The land vibrant with growth.
Your creatures build and thrive.
Mornings, alive with motion,
As warmth surrenders to heat.
Nights, bursting forth with wonder.
Bless this day, God of seasons,
Bless the summer with energy and vitality
So that all of Your creatures
Enter the coming seasons
With the fullness of Your bounty.

God of time and space,
May this season be a blessing and a teacher.
Make me like the land,
Fertile with sustenance and beauty.
Make me like the midnight sky,
Sparkling with ancient gifts.
Bless my days with service
And my evenings with rest.
Make me like the summer dawn,
Vibrant, awake, vital and ready.

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Postscript: Other seasonal prayers that also appear in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day include: “For Winter,” “For Summer,” “For Autumn” and “For Rain.”

Photo Source: Gary on Our Monthly Photo Album

The Way Home

Posted on: June 30th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is prayer about returning to the Land of Israel. It’s the antidote to a piece I posted two weeks ago called “To Find Home,” a difficult prayer/poem about struggling to find a sense of home. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

The Way Home
G-d of Old
The One who led our ancestors to a land of promise,
A vision of abundance,
Milk and honey from holy soil,
Grant me the strength to follow that sacred path,
Trials in the desert,
Trials of heart,
The journey home.

Ancient One,
Your Voice resounds in the hills,
Your Call echoes in the valleys,
Your Mysteries waiting
In the desert and by the seas.

Home is in my breath,
In my eyes,
In my heart.
Home is in the joy and the laughter,
In the work and the struggle,
In the toil and in the rest.

Blessed are You, G-d of our Ancestors,
You are the way home.

Postscript: Please take a moment to read “To Find Home” and compare it to this prayer. Which one resonates more for you? Which one are you more likely to use in your own prayer? Here are links to the other prayers I’ve written here in Israel: “Sages” and “A Song that Holds My Heart.”

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A Song that Holds My Heart

Posted on: June 23rd, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer/poem is as much a song as a prayer, written on the train from Acco to Tel Aviv in June, 2011. Readers will recognize the allusion to the Israeli National Anthem, Hatikvah, ‘The Hope.’ Here’s a rendition by Avivit Caspi. This is the third prayer I completed on that trip, including: “Sages” and “To Find Home.”

A Song that Holds My Heart
Tell me about your land and your spirit.
Tell me about your people and your love.
Tell me about your history and your longing.
Sing a song of hope,
The song of hope,
The song that holds my heart.

Lead me to the cypress and the wadi,
The rhythm of hills and whispers of the desert,
The music of the waters and the heartbeat of stone.
Sing a song of hope,
The song of hope,
The song that holds my heart.

This land, this people, are one.
This land, this people, are one.

Show me your strength and your passion.
Show me your joy and your fear.
Show me your pride and your yearning.
Sing a song of hope,
The song of hope,
The song that holds my heart.

Postscript: Here are links to two other prayers about Israel: “Israel: A Meditation” and “Jerusalem: A Meditation.” Click here for more prayers and meditations about Israel.

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 use or like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

A Prayer for Dad

Posted on: June 15th, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a prayer for Father’s Day. It’s from a series of prayers celebrating family. Each opens with the tone of psalm and ends with a blessing. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For the Patriarch
For our patriarch,
A song of dignity and honor.

Guardian of mitzvot,
Keeper of truths,
Hand of protection and peace,
We are blessed with your humor and compassion,
Your zest for life
And your zeal for family.
You remind us to open our lives to G-d’s majesty and mystery,
G-d’s justice and mercy.
You remind us to seek radiance and splendor,
Awe for creation and compassion for each other,
And choose joy over grief,
Laughter over tears.

G-d of fatherly patience and strength,
Bless our family with love
And our patriarch with vision, endurance and hope.
May his devotion inspire us to righteousness and charity,
Guided by Torah.
Bless our lives with abundance
And our days with vigor,
So that we bring majesty and mystery to our lives
And into the world.

Blessed are You, G-d of our fathers,
Who provides just and righteous men
In every generation.

Postscript: I welcome ideas for more topics in this series of family prayers. Others include: “For the Matriarch,” “For Our Brothers,” “For Our Sisters” and “For the Family Historian.” This prayer was first posted on June 19, 2010.

Each Day

Posted on: June 13th, 2011 by tobendlight

A simple meditation on days of sweetness and joy, courage and valor, pledging a life of service to G-d. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

Each Day
To start this day with joy.
To end this day with peace.
To start this day with longing.
To end this day released.

Live each day with wonder,
With kindness, awe and grace.
Live each day with courage,
With trust, with hope, with faith.

Hold fast to sacred moments.
Hold fast to precious love.
Hold fast to one another.
Hold fast to G-d above.

Hold courage through the hours,
And humor through the tears.
Hold G-d above your sorrows.
Hold G-d above your fears.

To You I must surrender,
Oh G-d of hidden spheres.
You are Source and Shelter.
To You I pledge my years.

Postscript: Here are two prayers about the gifts of life – “These Blessings” and “Morning Blessings” – and one with the same sing-song cadence of this prayer, “Come Walk.” This prayer was written prior to my current trip to Israel.

Posts Tagged ‘hope’

For My Child’s Surgery

R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul

Small Moments

For A Critically-Ill Father

Father’s Meditation

For Summer

The Way Home

A Song that Holds My Heart

A Prayer for Dad

Each Day

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