Posts Tagged ‘journeys’

 

For Work

Posted on: August 22nd, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a prayer for those seeking employment. Choices for the reader are shown in [brackets]. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

For Work
G-d of the laborer and the professional,
Of the craftsman and the entrepreneur,
Of the clerk and the executive,
Bless us with skill and wisdom
So that we may find employment
And financial security.
Give us energy and fortitude,
Courage and hope,
As the economy [struggles to revive][slows][remains uncertain].
Help us to discover hidden talents
And new strengths that are valued by employers.

As I begin another [day][week][month][year]
Of unemployment,
Help me to remember all of Your gifts,
So that I can envision a prosperous future.
May I find work that provides meaning and sustenance.
May opportunities become plentiful for all.

Blessed are You,
G-d of bounty and grace.

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

Postscript: Here’s a prayer to be said “Upon Losing Employment” and one to be said “Upon Gaining Employment.” This is a prayer “Against Worker Exploitation.” Here’s a link to an annotated list of prayers for social justice.

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: Deccan Chronicle

The Road Out

Posted on: July 3rd, 2011 by tobendlight

IMG_0656This is a prayer/poem about leaving Israel, Jerusalem in particular. I wrote it on July 3, 2011, on the drive from Jerusalem to Ben-Gurion Airport and was able to post it before my flight boarded. Here’s a list of the other prayers and poems I wrote on that trip: “To Find Home,” “Sages,” “The Way Home” and “A Song that Holds My Heart.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

The Road Out
The road out of Jerusalem is down, always down.
Down from the steppes of beauty,
Down from the mount of glory,
Away from G-d’s voice
Still echoing through sacred ground.

The road out of Jerusalem is paved with exile,
With love,
With longing,
With tears.

G-d of our fathers and mothers,
Rachel still cries when we leave the land,
By force or by choice.
The soil still feels our exit,
One less Jewish soul,
One less Jewish heart,
One less Jewish spirit.

Holy One,
Bring us speedily back to the land of our ancestors,
Our dreams,
Our history.
Bring us speedily back to you,
G-d of ages,
In love.

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

Postscript: 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

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.

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

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.”

Please use these prayers. See “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column. For notices of new prayers posted here, please subscribe. To read four to six mini-prayers each week, as well as notices of new prayers posted to the site, please join the To Bend Light fan page on Facebook.

Prayer Moments in Israel

Posted on: June 28th, 2011 by tobendlight

Three moments from my wanderings in Israel:

Shabbat afternoon in Netanya. I’m at a lovely lunch with a group made up primarily of long-time olim who went through an absorption center together decades ago. They consider each other family. Thanks to my weekend host, the conversation turned to my writing.  One of the women shared this story:

A relative passed away nearly a year ago. A man. Simple, loved, respected. The family could not settle on a quote to use as an epitaph. The time was running out. The headstone needed to be ordered. Less than a week prior to that Shabbat, with the deadline looming, she found my prayer “For the Patriarch.” She sent the closing lines, the chatimah, to the family. Within hours, they decided to use these words on his stone: “Blessed are You, G-d of our fathers, who provides just and righteous men in every generation.” Words from my prayer in honor of a beloved father. In stone. Amazing. And I got the added blessing of hearing the story.

Sunday in Be’er Sheva. I’m with the head of communications for Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. We were talking about the challenge of writing a one-line message for their Rosh Hashana card. She was looking for a line to reflect the Zionism of both the founders of the university and the current leadership. I said that she could modify and use a line from my new prayer, written here in Israel, called “A Song that Holds My Heart.” The idea: change the refrain “Sing a song of hope, the song of hope, the song that holds my heart” ever-so-slightly to “Sing the song of hope, a song of Zion, the song that holds my heart.” She threw the idea in the hopper, but it didn’t make the cut for BGU. It was nice to have the line considered. Now I’m thinking about whether or not to make that change to my piece. Which line do you prefer?

Monday night, Jerusalem. Having gone in wrong way, I landed at a bus stop an hour from my destination. I met Abebe, a 21-year-old Ethiopian yeshiva student. We talked. When he found out I was going to The Kotel he decided to come with. We walked through the Old City together at night, davened ma’ariv at The Wall and he insisted on buying dinner, schwarma with chips. As the evening ended, I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He asked me to bless him. I did. In truth, we were blessed by each other. Here’s my prayer for the strangers that we meet on the journey called “On the Road.”

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

For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. Connect with To Bend Light on Facebook and on Twitter.

A Song that Holds My Heart

Posted on: June 23rd, 2011 by tobendlight

IMG_6798This 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.

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

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

To Find Home

Posted on: June 17th, 2011 by tobendlight

Day five in Israel. After two days in Tel Aviv, I’m now in Haifa. On a solitary up-hill walk, it became clear that I’m here looking for something, but have no idea what it is. I don’t even have the words yet to ask the question, let alone find an answer. Then, suddenly, it struck me that I’ve lost the definition of the word ‘home.’

Addendum 12.16.2011: A week after I wrote this, still in Israel, the antidote to the yearning of this prayer came in the form of another piece called: “The Way Home.” I’ve been back in the US for six months and will return to Israel in less than three weeks.

To Find Home
Ancient One,
Without mast or sail,
Compass or sextant,
Tiller or anchor,
Stripped of pretense,
Raw and naked,
I look to You
To guide my way.

What shall I call home?
A land, a topography, a geography?
A place? A people?
History and memory?
A dwelling, a building, a house?
Safety, security, comfort?
A space inside of me?

G-d of Old,
The One who sent our ancestors on their journeys,
Lead me on a steady path,
A path of wholeness and love.
The path to my name.
The path to my home.

If the struggle is long, Amen.
If the struggle is swift, Amen.
When the path is rough, Amen.
When the path is smooth, Amen.
If the way is darkness, Amen.
If the way is light, Amen.
When I am lost, Amen.
When I return, Amen.

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

Postscript:  One definition of home is clear: wherever I leave a piece of my heart. So there will always be a piece of home with my daughters, with my sisters, with my Mom. Perhaps that’s why my heart aches when someone leaves or dies. This is the second prayer that I’ve begun on this trip and the first that has reached a reasonable draft. Related prayers include: “Being Lost” and “For the Lost.”

If you use or like this prayer, 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.

Israel Soon

Posted on: June 11th, 2011 by tobendlight

On Sunday I leave for Israel. This trip is about connecting with people and the land and healing from a raft of losses: my wife z”l, my job, my home. My joy and excitement at how the trip is shaping up are beyond my expectations. Through the power of the web – email, Facebook, my website – I will reconnect with old friends and will meet and stay with people I’ve never physically met, friends of friends, the family of friends and Internet pals who have opened their homes. Some of the trip is planned, some will simply evolve while I’m there. Thanks to the many, many people who have helped along the way.

I plan to continue to post new prayers for the three weeks that I’m gone, but I have no idea what will actually happen. To celebrate the start of my journey, here are links to three prayers about Israel:

And here are links to three prayers about travel:

  • “For Travel” – A traveler’s prayer
  • “On the Road” – For the blessing of meeting people on the journey
  • “On the Trail” – The awe and wonder of physical and spiritual treks

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

Please use these prayers. See “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column. For notices of new prayers posted here, please subscribe. To read four to six mini-prayers each week, as well as notices of new prayers posted to the site, please join the To Bend Light fan page on Facebook.

Bird is Bird

Posted on: June 1st, 2011 by tobendlight

Mid-afternoon, late September, on a long forest climb. The mountain trail took a sharp right giving way to a steep exposed slope and an unseen ridge line. At the top, nothing but shimmering blue sky and a lone bird. Sometimes the spiritual traveler will say a prayer with his eyes, with her heart, with his breath, with her being. And it doesn’t sound like a prayer at all.

Bird is Bird
Bird is bird.
Sky is sky.
You are You.
I am I.

Sun in East.
Sun in West.
Morning glory.
Evening rest.

Moon by day.
Moon at night.
Heaven’s mirror.
Earth’s delight.

Bird in air.
Bird in flight.
Holy motion.
Sacred sight.

Blue the sky.
Blue the sea.
Who will listen?
Who will be?

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

Postscript: Other prayers of the spiritual traveler include: “Come Walk,” “Leaving,” “Remember” and “About the Rainbow.”

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 by: Alden Solovy

Transitions

Posted on: May 9th, 2011 by tobendlight

800px-Aurora_borealis_in_AlaskaLast night I tossed in bed, half awake, half asleep, in prayer. It wasn’t fun. When I woke, more like emerging from a semi-hypnotic state, my first thought: write that dream as a prayer. It was impossible. Words were the lesser part of the experience. It was an ebb and flow of thoughts, emotions, images, love for my daughters, for my family, for myself, love of G-d, fear and joy, dread and hope, pride and shame, mystery and light. What I captured is my sense of that prayer, which resonates with humility and endurance. The prayer itself is beyond my reach. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Transitions
G-d of sacred moments,
G-d of endings and beginnings,
Hear this prayer for guidance and deliverance
As my life moves in new directions,
Onto new paths,
Into uncertain water.

Grant me courage as an answer to fear,
As the winds blow,
Strength as an answer to doubt,
As the storms gather,
And wisdom as an answer to uncertainty.

Grant me grace in the face of obstacles,
As fires rage,
Patience in the face of detours,
As the earth trembles,
And trust in the face of the unknown.

Grant me joy in my successes,
As the sun warms the land,
Humor in my defeats,
As the cactus opens a flower,
And acceptance throughout my days.

Grant me faith in Your guidance,
As songs lift my heart,
Gratitude for Your works,
As love lifts my life,
And joy in Your gifts.

G-d of Old,
Rock and Shelter,
My time is a blink,
My journey a puff of wind,
My life fragile and fleeting.
Therefore,
G-d of Secrets,
Grant me delight,
Luminous, majestic delight,
In using these blessings
In service to Your Holy Name.

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

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 26th day of counting the Omer. My other prayers about transitions include three favorites: “Leaving,” “River” and “Rhythms.”

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: NOAA Photo Library

The Season of Freedom

Posted on: March 31st, 2011 by tobendlight

SederTableElissaA Passover meditation about the nature freedom, redemption, release. I’ve used this format of parallel stanzas for other holiday prayers, including Yom Kippur, Hanukah and counting the Omer. This piece appears in my new book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press, as does “The Season of Counting.”

The Season of Freedom
This is the season of freedom:
Of freedom from the will of tyrants,
Of freedom from the bondage of self,
To become a nation and a people.

This is the season of release:
Of release from captivity and oppression,
Of release from a foreign land,
To receive G-d’s Holy Word.

This is the season of redemption:
Of redeeming our bodies and souls,
Of redeeming our strength and power,
In service to Am Yisroel.

This is the season of freedom:
Of reliving the ancient journey,
Of remembering the treacherous path.
This is the season that calls us to stand together,
The season that summons us to G-d’s Law,
The season that leads us home.

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

Postscript: If you liked this prayer, you may also like my prayer for counting the Omer, “The Season of Counting,” as well as “The Season of Healing,” “The Season of Dedication” and “The Season of Return.”

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: Challah Covers and Matza Bags by Elissa

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