Tag Archive for "journeys" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘journeys’

Freedom and Liberation

Posted on: July 3rd, 2012 by tobendlight

As the U.S. celebration of the 4th of July kicks into gear, here’s a prayer for freedom and liberation for people of all nations. It comes from my series of prayers For A Better World, including: “Against Human Trafficking,” “Against Poverty” and “Against Worker Exploitation.” Here are links to prayers written for Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar above below.

Against Tyranny
G-d of the oppressed,
G-d of the subjugated and exploited,
The voice of freedom echoes across the land,
A hunger for liberation
And an end to the reign of tyrants.
Our brothers,
Beaten and abused,
Our sisters,
Dominated and forgotten,
Rise up to face the despot
Risking life and limb
In the name of the future,
With the dream of emancipation.

Source of mercy,
Rock of generations,
You have led people to deliverance in every age.
Bless those who struggle against cruelty and oppression.
Grant them courage and fortitude,
Safety and strength.
May their purpose remain righteous
And their vision focused on peace.

Bring an end to the rule of dictators in every land.
Release the hand of cruelty and evil.
Thwart the hand of brutality and slaughter.
Grant a swift end to violence,
So that renewal and rebuilding can begin
And hope renewed.

Bless a new government with wisdom and compassion
To give meaning to the uprising and suffering.
Let honorable nations lend skill and resources
To the leaders who emerge from this struggle.

Blessed are You, G-d of All,
Who summons us to free the captive,
Pursue justice
And oppose the reign of tyrants.

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Upon Gaining Employment

Posted on: June 28th, 2012 by tobendlight

In the next few days I will sign a contract to work for an Israeli health information technology company. I started work two weeks ago. For those who don’t know, the work week here in Israel is Sunday to Thursday. I’ll be commuting to Tel Aviv about two days each week and working from my apartment in Jerusalem the other days. And there will be some travel to the U.S. I am grateful for this opportunity.

Upon Gaining Employment
G-d on high,
With gratitude I begin a new job,
A new opportunity to contribute,
A new chance to provide for my well-being
And the well-being of my family.
Let me use this gift for good
In service to others
And Your Holy Name.

Remember the poor and the homeless,
The needy and the unemployed,
So that they find dignity and fulfillment
In the works of their hands
And the works of their minds.
For I once stood in the shadow of fear and loss
When my employment ended.
Bless all who are jobless with a livelihood
So that they know health and happiness,
Security and peace.

Source of goodness and life,
Grant me success on this new path
And prosperity in all my endeavors.
May this be an opportunity to learn and to grow,
In the joy of fruitful labor.

Blessed are You,
G-d of bounty and grace,
Who has seen me through my hour of need
And brought me the gift of work.

Postscript: Here’s a prayer to be said “Upon Losing Employment” and a prayer “For Work.” See also: “Against Worker Exploitation,” it’s one of my prayers for social justice.

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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.

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

Fire Within

Posted on: January 21st, 2012 by tobendlight

The collective Jewish response to grief is joy, to attempt to live in joy no matter what. Not always an easy path, but it leads to a deep healing that allows the full spectrum of emotion into our lives. Joy and grief are welcome, because they are part of accepting G-d’s world as it is. Living in joy, with all our strength and energy, is part of claiming a stake in G-d’s future world, a world of complete happiness and peace, a world that is yet to come. This piece will appear in my forthcoming book, Song of the Spiritual Traveler. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Fire Within
My burns
Cannot be seen on my flesh.
They are in my lungs
And in my eyes.
What medicine will halt the smoldering,
The smoke that suffocates from within?

My cuts
Cannot be seen on my skin.
They are in my heart
And in my throat.
What medicine will heal the bleeding,
The tide that floods from within?

Ancient One,
Release me from the fire and the knife:
The flame that consumes hope and joy,
The blade that destroys time and seasons.

Holy One,
Rock and Shelter,
Your medicine is love.
Your salve is holiness.
Your balm is life.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Eternal Source of wholeness and healing.

Postscript: I originally conceived this as a prayer for men. Many of us experience our internal struggles – fears, losses, shames, angers – as fire and knife. Although I don’t know if the metaphor holds for women, this piece seems more universally prayer for healing than other of my prayers for men.

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, your blog or as part of a tweet. 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. Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing.

Photo credit: zoeyryanthoughts.com

Shall I Cry?

Posted on: January 4th, 2012 by tobendlight

This is a prayer about the vastness of joy, love, friendship and care. I’ve selected this for day 36 of Counting the Omer, the Lovingkindness in Bonding, the Chesed of Yesod, because it’s about the dedication to finding deep and lasting love. It appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing, as well as Mishkan Aveilut from CCAR Press.

Shall I Cry?
Shall I cry at the last withered leaf of fall?
Or the lonely swallow?
Or my grieving heart?

Shall I mourn the past?
Protest the future?
Bury myself in these losses?
The leaving. The death.

Oh you sea of clouds.
Oh you curtain of rain.
Oh you silent yearning.
You arrive as messenger and guide,
Sent from the Source of healing,
The Source of radiance and wonder.

This soul cannot learn to love
In heaven, where only
The vast blue glory
Of light
Resides.

Postscript: See also: “Unlock Your Heart,” “This Stubborn Heart,” “Every Heart,” “My Heart Knows What it Needs,” “A Heart of Vision” and “A Heart that Hears.”

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: Just Walk Away

This Mirror

Posted on: November 13th, 2011 by tobendlight

It takes courage to see me to see myself as I really am, with my strengths and my weaknesses. This prayer is a reminder – to me and other men – that I can only become a man of love and action if I see myself clearly, forgive my lapses and bless my being. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

This Mirror
With love in my left hand
And courage in my right,
I approach the mirror of my life to see
A sage and a fool,
A hero and a coward,
A king and a peasant,
A prophet and a heretic,
The rich texture of my being and my becoming.

Oh to be the summer breeze
Warmed by the gentle morning sun.
Oh to be the lazy creek,
Shaded by branches and leaves.

This mirror sees the light of holiness within,
The gifts I’ve been given,
The gifts I return to earth and sky.
This mirror reflects radiance and wonder,
A rainbow of experience and emotion,
A luminous and divine spirit.

Oh to be an eagle soaring on the wind.
Oh to be an owl soaring in the night.
Oh to be that man in the mirror.
Oh to be me.

Postscript: Here are related prayers for men: “My Work Remains,” “For the Lost” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs.” And here is a list of more prayers for and about men.

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, to your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks. Please subscribe. For reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column.

Summon My Heart

Posted on: November 6th, 2011 by tobendlight

G-d is all around us, in every moment and every breath. Yet the Holy One of Old still calls us to seek and discover the glory and the might, the wisdom and the word. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Summon My Heart
There is no summit,
No peak,
No mountain top
For me to find G-d.
G-d has already found me
In small moments and quiet breaths,
In the howling winds and the raging sky.

There is no road,
No trail,
No path
For me to find G-d.
G-d has already found me
In toil and in rest,
In the moonlit night and the glow at daybreak.

And yet,
G-d of Old,
You summon me
To wander and roam,
To journey, to discover.
To know You in all things.
To see You in all beings.
To love You with every breath.
To serve You with a full heart.

G-d of wisdom,
Grant me adventure and wonder,
Joy and amazement,
Seeking Your holy Word,
Praising Your holy Name.

Postscript: Two more prayers of heart: “This Stubborn Heart” and “My Heart Knows What it Needs.” And a prayer about wandering: “Your Light.”

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Your Light

Posted on: November 4th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer/poem resonates with the love, hope and yearning of the one who is summoned to travel, to leave, to roam. It’s intentionally ambiguous on several levels, like the journey itself. To listen, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

Your Light
Your light
Shines to greet me.
Generous and warm.
Precious and true.
When I leave
Your light follows,
A gentle glow of
Heart and home.

This journey of awe and mystery,
Radiance and wonder,
Summons me across land and sea,
To listen, to look, to feel, to be.
G-d’s wisdom and grace carry me
Across earth and sky
To song and splendor.

Shine brighter, my loves!
So that when my journey ends
I will remember
The way home.

Postscript: See also “To Find Home,” “The Way Home” and “On the Trail.”

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, to your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks.

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Soarbird

Posted on: September 17th, 2011 by tobendlight

A flight of fancy. A song of the spiritual traveler. A few words from the one who prays in song, in rhythm, in metaphor. It’s a companion piece to the prayer/poem “Bird is Bird,” which begins this way: “Bird is bird. Sky is sky…” Both are flights toward quiet, toward calm, toward peace.

Soarbird
Soarbird, sing.
Heart music.
Drum beat. Chest beat.
Magic rhythm.
Secret song.
Magic flight.

Soarbird, wing.
Sky music.
Pulse beat. Heart beat.
Magic thunder.
Wind song.
Magic whisper.

Soarbird, rest.
Night music.
Silent. Still.
Magic being.
Love song.
Magic becoming.

Soarbird, sing.
Sun music.
Light. Air.
Magic motion.
Freedom song.
Magic sight.

Postscript: See also: “Bird Song at Midnight,” “First Bird” and, of course, “Bird is Bird.”

Photo by Alden Solovy

For Libya

Posted on: September 1st, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a prayer for the people of Libya so that the Arab Spring will herald a new era of safety and prosperity for all people, peace and stability for all nations. Can you image a synagogue reopened there? To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

For Libya
G-d of All,
Protector and Redeemer,
Watch over the people of Libya
As they face war, revolt, violence and unrest.
Grant physical and emotional safety to
Citizens and residents, visitors and guests,
During this time of struggle and strife.
Grant wisdom and courage to its new leaders,
And insight to its advisors,
So that they forge a peaceful and prosperous future.
Lead them on a path toward justice.
Direct them on the road to freedom.
Make them a shining light of peace.

Source and Shelter,
Grant safety and security to all nations,
So that truth and harmony resound
From the four corners of the earth.
May this time of challenge for Libya
Become a blessing for its inhabitants
And for the world.

Blessed are You, G-d of All,
Forging nations and peoples
In the crucible of change
Throughout history.

Postscript: This was adapted for Libya from a prayer “For Egypt.” Please take a moment to read “For Peace in the Middle East” and “Israel: A Meditation.” Thanks to my friends Ros Roucher and Rabbi Paul Kipnes, Congregation Or Ami, Calabasas, Calif., for their comments on a draft of this prayer.

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, to your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks.

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Posts Tagged ‘journeys’

Freedom and Liberation

Upon Gaining Employment

Powerful Men

Fire Within

Shall I Cry?

This Mirror

Summon My Heart

Your Light

Soarbird

For Libya

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