Posts Tagged ‘missing’

 

Thirty Days

Posted on: November 6th, 2023 by Alden

This is a prayer / poem for the shloshim of the massacred on Oct. 7, the traditional marker of thirty days after the death of of a loved one. The poem makes the assertion that thirty days of mourning cannot be enough for 1,400 murdered, and that thirty days of prayer is not enough for 240 captives. Use this along with the song “Nothing Left but Tears.”

Thirty Days
Thirty days of hell.
Thirty days without you.
Murdered. Kidnapped.
Assaulted. Decapitated.
Violated. Violated again.

Thirty days of tears
Cannot bring back
The souls of the massacred.
Thirty days of tears
Cannot restore the captives
To their families.

Woe unto the land
That has soaked up
So much blood.
Woe unto the land
That yearns for her children
To return home.

Thirty days. And thirty days.
And thirty days. And thirty days…

Thirty days
One thousand
Four hundred times.
Thirty days
Of tears
For each of the lost.

Thirty days. And thirty days.
And thirty days. And thirty days…

Thirty days
Two hundred
Forty times.
Thirty days
Of repentance
For each of the captives.

Thirty days of grief.
Thirty days of mourning.
Thirty days of anguish.
Again and again and again.

So we become
Thirty thousand days of resolve.
Again and again and again.
For never again.
Forever, to eternity.

© 2023 Alden Solovy and ToBendLight

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For a Missing Pet

Posted on: February 6th, 2018 by Alden

Merlin the Cat

A prayer for a missing pet inspired by the disappearance and safe return of Merlin, the cat of friends Cantor Evan Kent and Rabbi Donald Goor. This prayer is based on one for a missing person. Perhaps it’s not shocking that the prayers are nearly identical. Welcome Home, Merlin!

For a Missing Pet
G-d of the frightened,
G-d of the missing and the lost,
Return my/our beloved pet
___________________________ [name]
To the cradle of my/our arms
And the refuge of my/our home
Speedily, in life and in health.
Watch over her/him. Protect her/him.
Shelter her/him from harm.
Deliver her/him from evil acts and evil intent.
Bless all who are helping with her/his return.

G-d of Old,
These [hours/days/weeks]
Of dismay and dread are almost too much to bear.
Grant me/us endurance, hope and faith
That I/we will soon be reunited with ___________ [name]
In the fullness of joy.

Holy One,
Protector and Redeemer,
Hear [this/my/our] prayer.

© 2018 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

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Postscript: Here’s a prayer to be said “For a Critically-Ill Pet” and another for the “Passing of a Beloved Pet.”

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: Cantor Evan Kent

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