Tag Archive for "mystery" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘mystery’

To Do Your Will

Posted on: July 26th, 2010 by tobendlight

Since G-d already has given us Abraham and Sarah, Moshe and Miriam, what can I bring to our people in Divine service? Simply this: to ask for the guidance to do G-d’s will in humility and love. This prayer has particular relevance during the month of Elul, as well as week four of the Counting the Omer. See also “For Humility.” This prayer poem appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

To Do Your Will
G-d who made Abraham and Sarah,
Moses and Miriam,
G-d who made scholars and leaders,
The wise and the heroic,
What is my place and my purpose?
What is Your will for this man / woman who stands ready,
In awe of Your radiance and light?

G-d whose voice echoes though time,
Whose blessings flow through our lives,
What is my role and my requirement?
How shall I serve Your glorious and holy name?

This is my longing and my desire:
To do Your will in humility and love.
To hear and to teach.
To see and to bless,
To hold and to honor.
To witness and to wonder.

G-d of generations,
Source of holiness and purpose,
Reveal the mystery of my life,
Open the gates of my heart,
And fill the well of my being
With vigor and delight.
Then my life will stand in tribute to divine justice and mercy,
To the wonder of creation,
To the honor and dedication of our people.

Blessed is the One, Source of truth,
Who reveals meaning and purpose in our daily lives.

Postscript: I have selected this prayer for week four of Counting the Omer, as well as one of my prayers during Elul.

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: USDA NRSA Photo Gallery

Life as a Symphony

Posted on: July 5th, 2010 by tobendlight

Compassion gains an element of nobility when developed as a spiritual practice. This prayer is about living a reverent and compassionate life. It’s from a set of prayers including “Life as a Garden,” “Life as a Banquet” and “Life as a Ceremony.” Each calls for the introspection to see life as a glorious gift. They appear in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Life as a Symphony
G-d of ancient secrets,
Source of life,
Creator of beauty,
Divine light of sacred truth,
My strength has its limits,
My power its purpose,
The energy of life flowing from a secret well beyond my reach
And beyond my imagination.
What I find and what finds me are a mystery and a miracle.

Heavenly hand of radiance and hope,
Author of all being,
Grant me the wisdom and understanding to live my life as a symphony,
A river of majestic music that blesses and sustains life
With holiness and love,
That I repay with kindness and charity.
Give me the passion and the patience to hear the rhythms of Your glorious creation.

You who bring beauty and song,
Guide me with Your power,
Teach me with Your kindness,
Show me the reverence for Your secret truths,
So that I live a life of joy and celebration,
With gratitude for Your creation.

Blessed are You, G-d of salvation and splendor,
Creation sings Your praise.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 21th day of counting the Omer: “Nobility in Compassion.”

Photo Credit: UNCW Randall Library

An Amazing Life

Posted on: June 29th, 2010 by tobendlight

What makes life amazing? Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, darkness and light. And the choice to embrace life with a sense of awe and wonder no matter what. This piece appears in my new book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The entire text follows.

An Amazing Life
This is an amazing life,
A gift of moments
Precious and dear,
Profound in joy.
Profound in sorrow.

This is an amazing life,
A gift of moments
Glorious and holy,
Rich in laughter,
Rich with tears.

This is an amazing life,
A gift beyond imagination,
Fantastic stories of solitude and adventure,
Tales of darkness and light,
Psalms of frailty and endurance,
Poetry written in time and motion,
In stillness and silence,
In shouts and whispers,
In mourning and wondrous celebration.
This is an amazing life,
A river of blessings,
A gift to cherish
In awe and wonder.

Blessed are the gifts of life.
Blessed is the Giver of life.
Blessed is this amazing life.

Postscript: Here is a link to prayers of and for Thanksgiving.

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: WikiMedia Commons

On the Birth of a Child

Posted on: June 25th, 2010 by tobendlight

Here’s a prayer to be said “On the Birth of a Child.” A quick note about the format. Word choices are identified with a slash (“/”). A version of his prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

On the Birth of a Child
Precious child,
Wonder of creation,
You are proof of Divine love,
Witness to our Maker’s Glory,
Witness to the blessed partnership
Between humanity and G-d.
What makes me/us worthy of you?
What makes me/us able to gently guide you on your sacred path,
Your own journey to wisdom, charity, righteousness and Torah?

Father of the universe,
Mother of creation,
Be my guide and teacher,
As I/we parent this new life,
This precious gift.
Give me humility, compassion and wisdom
To teach Torah and Mitzvot
Through my actions and my life,
So that we become each other’s blessings.

Gracious G-d, be my/our partner in raising this child,
For this gift is not mine.
It is ours to nurture, to grow,
And to give back to the world for tikun olam.

Postscript: For prayers about family, click here. See also: “On the Birth of Grandchildren.”

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.

For the Lost: A Prayer for Men

Posted on: June 22nd, 2010 by tobendlight

Friend or foe? That’s the ancient male warrior/protector concern. Harm or help? Enemy or friend? Safe or unsafe? It’s an antiquated question that needs a new meaning. Today the answer for most men is simple: Yes. Friend and foe. Enemy and friend. Safe and unsafe. Men can be – and typically are – both.

There’s a different way. It requires a new approach and a different question. Who do you want to be when you show up in your life and the lives of others? It is not a casual question.

This prayer appears in the new book Men Pray from SkyLight Paths. It’s for our brothers who are ready to join in the battle for their own hearts, the struggle for their own souls.

Friend or foe? Maybe the question isn’t antiquated after all…if I ask it of myself. In the battle for my own heart, I am both.

For the Lost
Brother.
I am not your rival.
I am not your enemy.
I am not the source of
Your fear and shame,
Your grief and loss,
Your loneliness
Or your nightmares.
I am your fellow.
Lost, at times, like you,
But never alone.
I rise above these struggles toward
A vision of my best self.

This is my work and my prayer:
Come with me as companion and friend,
And I will come with you as a gift of love,
Seeing you,
Holding your life as sacred,
Your journey as an adventure,
Your wisdom as a gift.

Drop your weapon and remove your mask
So that you can see truth.
For, in truth, your mask is neither power nor shelter.
It is thin as air,
Clear as glass,
Transparent, fragile, useless.

I see you, brother.
See me.
See this man.
Your right arm.
Your staff.
Your comfort.

Welcome home.

Postscript: I wrote this prayer the week after completing the January 2010 New Warrior Training Adventure of the ManKind Project put on by the Chicago community, along with another prayer titled “My Work Remains.” I’ve also written several other prayers for and about men.

Photo Source: SkyLight Paths

A Moment of Blessing

Posted on: June 13th, 2010 by tobendlight

Right here, right now, at this very moment, blessings abound. This prayer is about seeing the blessings in our lives.

A Moment of Blessing
Every breath and every blink,
Every moment and every heartbeat:
Each one, a blessing.
This is a moment of blessing.
Blessings given. Blessings received.

Every trail and every vista,
Every journey and every homecoming:
Each one, an adventure.
This is a moment of adventure.
Adventures alone. Adventures together.

Every sunrise and every sunset,
Every crash of thunder and every roar of the sea:
Each one, a moment of majesty.
This is a moment of majesty.
Majesty from heaven. Majesty on earth.

Every birth and every death,
Every love and every loss:
Each one, a mystery.
This is a moment of mystery.
Mysteries hidden. Mysteries revealed.

Blessed are you, Adonai our G-d,
G-d of blessings, G-d of adventures,
G-d of majesty and G-d of mystery,
You fill our days with Your glory
And our lives with precious gifts.
Praised are You, Source of love.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 15th day of the Omer, Lovingkindness in Compassion. See also, “Garden of Blessings” and “This Moment.”

Please check out my ELItalk “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: My Jewish Detroit

Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story

Posted on: May 27th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is a sweet little story about the joy of baking challah and the ways we honor, love and add beauty to Shabbat. Much like the story Yaakov Shraga, it captures a moment in which one person experiences holiness in daily life. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The story follows.

Sarah Rivkah
Of all the things Sarah Rivkah does to praise her Maker’s Name, baking challah for Shabbat is her favorite. On Friday mornings she gets up early, washes her hands in cold water, and thanks
G-d for granting her another day. She stokes the stove and wonders if, like her, the Sabbath Queen gets up early to prepare for Shabbat. Somehow, Sarah’s largest bowl is already in her hands, as if someone handed it to her. The flour and sugar and salt are already on the table, the eggs beaten, the yeast bubbling.

Sarah Rivkah kneads the dough, counting as she pushes the warm ball against the floured kitchen table. One, two three… It almost seems to knead itself, as if she had an extra pair of hands. Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven… She hears a voice, like a whisper, counting with her. Fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-one… A warm wind, subtle as a breath, blows past her neck. And Sarah Rivkah, sensing the joy of Shabbat, begins to hum, “Shalom aleichem malachei ha-shalom. Bring peace to us, ye angels of peace.” Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine…

When the dough is ready, she puts it in a bowl in a warm spot near the oven to rise. She wipes the table and washes the dirty utensils. The dough has risen beyond the recipe, beyond her expectations. She divides the ball in half, and the halves in half. And from each of the lumps she makes three long strips of dough. In hardly a blink, there are four perfectly braided challot back in the warm spot to rise again. She glides through the kitchen on wings. Something has removed her weight, removed her burdens. Sarah Rivkah’s table is set, the warm, sweet smell of baking bread filling her home. She takes two challot from her oven—she doesn’t remember putting them in—and she replaces them with two more. When the last two are golden brown, Sarah takes them from the oven. She knows that they are done, but she taps them each once just to hear their hollow sound. And Sarah Rivkah, tired and happy, sits down in a wooden chair to smell the scent a little longer, to gaze at her candle sticks and kiddush cups, and to wonder, once more, if the Sabbath Queen gets up early to prepare for Shabbat.

Postscript: Click the link to read more short, short stories of holiness and love of G-d.

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

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Doubt

Posted on: May 22nd, 2010 by tobendlight

A friend asked me to write a prayer about doubt. I was stumped until, one morning after prayer and meditation, the notion of doubt as a Divine gift broke through. The result is a set of prayers about difficult emotions, including “Shame,” “Fear” and “Anger.” To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The entire text follows.

Doubt
G-d of ancient secrets,
G-d of unknown futures,
I’ve been on the mountain
And in the valley.
I’ve swum calm waters
And was tossed by a raging sea.
I’ve been a man / woman of perfect faith
And consumed by impenetrable doubt.
I live between moments of clarity and hours of confusion,
Between daylight and twilight.
I live between the heights and the depths,
Between the calm and the storm,
Between hesitation and trust.

Doubt is a gift.
Doubt is a journey.
Doubt is a blessing.

Holy One,
Creator of mysteries beyond my grasp,
Help me to see my doubts as teachers and guides
Leading me back to You,
Your people,
And Your word.
Let my doubt be the gateway to faith,
Just as confusion is the path to understanding,
As night is the doorway to sunlight.

Blessed are You, Redeemer of the lost,
Who created doubt so that we might discover faith.

Postscript: This is part of a series of prayers about difficult emotions, including “Fear,” “Shame” and “Anger.”

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.

Regarding Old Wounds

Posted on: April 18th, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is about the spiritual path, recognizing that it requires a sense of purpose and joy, of love and humility. Why? Because healing can be painful. Much like surgery, it’s often necessary for me to receive my wounds in order to grow. Then I have a profound choice, to live wounded or to let these wounds heal and live from a place of wonder and awe. I use this prayer in week four of Counting the Omer, chesed b’netzach.

Regarding Old Wounds
Daughter of man,
Son of woman,
Children of compassion and sacred secrets:
Your wounds are deep,
Your losses crushing,
Knife on flesh,
Hammer on bone,
Burning your heart and searing your eyes.
Why do you invite them back
To chastise your days
And torture your nights?
Why do you love these old wounds,
Holding them so dear?

Son of celebration,
Daughter of ecstasy:
Cast off your doubts,
Banish your fears,
Exile the pain of time beyond your reach.
There is beauty in your past,
Wonder in your future,
And holiness in each new moment of life.

Come you children of G-d,
You witnesses of suffering and grace,
Lift your heads from your hands,
Raise your voices in song,
Lift your lives in service,
And rekindle the light of compassion and love.
Then, your lives will become a blessing,
A well of hope,
A river of consolation,
A fountain of peace.

Blessed are You, G-d of forgiveness,
You renew our lives with purpose.

Postscript: This piece was part of a collaboration with Lin Batsheva Kahn of the Tikvah Company of Artists and Desiree Miller of the Chicago Civic Orchestra called “Three Prayers,” using my words, original choreography and dance by Lin and original cello music by Desiree. “Three Prayers” premiered in Jerusalem in June 2014 as part of an evening of dance and poetry by Miriam Engel’s Angela Dance Company. This prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Credit: Neshama נשמה Nicole Raisin Stern

On the Trail

Posted on: April 4th, 2010 by tobendlight

On every trail, on every adventure, there’s a moment truth, a moment that tests my skills, my resolve and my dedication to the journey. This prayer includes a reminder that there are wonderful secrets waiting along the way, secrets that cannot be found anywhere else. I use this prayer for the 25th day of the counting of the Omer. This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

On the Trail
G-d of beginnings,
G-d of mystery and adventure,
The path is steep,
The route is hidden,
The trail a narrow ridge line,
Exposed and treacherous,
Slicing between majestic canyons,
Rising to the awesome sky.
The load is heavy, the destination unknown,
But the journey has rhythm and dance,
Song and story,
Ancient music that rises around us,
To take us from sunset to sunset
As we move into the glorious unknown
Step by step,
Moment by moment,
Day by day by day.

G-d of the wayfarer,
G-d of the traveler and sojourner,
Divine light of wonder and truth,
Lead us.
Show us the way
Across vast open spaces
And through tight, narrow passages.
Guide us.
Show us the way
Through stormy days
And moonless nights.

Blessed are You, Source and Shelter,
Guide and Compass, Oasis of Strength,
You lead Your people from trail to trail,
From trial to trial,
From darkness to light,
With love.

Postscript: My other traveler’s prayers include: “On the Road,” “For Travel” and “Being Lost.”

Photo by Alden Solovy

Posts Tagged ‘mystery’

To Do Your Will

Life as a Symphony

An Amazing Life

On the Birth of a Child

For the Lost: A Prayer for Men

A Moment of Blessing

Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story

Doubt

Regarding Old Wounds

On the Trail

“Alden has become one of Reform Judaism’s master poet-liturgists…" - Religion News Service, Dec. 23, 2020

“Mesmerizing, spiritual, provocative, and thoughtful, Alden was everything you would want in a guest scholar and teacher.” – Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Congregation Kol Ami, Los Angeles, and Past President, CCAR

**"Alden Solovy has become one of the most revered liturgists of the last decade…" - Jewish Post & Opinion, March 29, 2023**

“Alden left everyone feeling inspired.” – Cantor Jeri Robins, Shabbat Chair, NewCAJE6

Your contribution helps support the creation of new prayers available to all on this site.