Posts Tagged ‘mystery’

 

My Life in Yours

Posted on: October 23rd, 2017 by Alden

About four years ago I wrote a love song. As I strolled alone along Jerusalem’s old railway walking path, these words simply appeared. Strange. I wasn’t dating anyone, so why would a love song simply appear? Here are two versions of “My Life in Yours,” the first is a song of yearning for love; the second, which follows, is a wedding prayer recited by one partner to the other or said together in unison. The differences in the two are small, but key.

My Life in Yours – A Love Song
When my heart whispers for you,
When my breath calls your name,
When my eyes sparkle with your grace,
I will plant my life in yours.

When my hands yearn for your healing,
When my ears tune to your voice,
When my pulse beats with your footsteps,
I will plant my life in yours.

The sky, the sea, the horizon,
The moments, the days and the years.
The light, the hope, the glory,
The hours, the seasons, the tears.

When your heart whispers for me,
When your breath calls my name,
When your pulse beats with my footsteps,
I will plant my life in yours…
I will plant this life in yours.

My Life in Yours – A Wedding Prayer
My heart whispers for you,
And my breath calls your name,
As my eyes sparkle with your grace,
I plant my life in yours.

My hands yearn for your healing,
My ears tune to your voice,
As my pulse beats with your footsteps,
I plant my life in yours.

The sky, the sea, the horizon,
The moments, the days and the years.
The light, the hope, the glory,
The hours, the seasons, the tears.

Now your heart whispers for me,
And your breath calls my name,
As your pulse beats with my footsteps,
I plant my life in yours.
I plant this life in yours.

© 2017 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: I recorded myself singing the tune to this piece to share here, but I’m too shy — yes, I said shy — to post it. Here are links to my prayers about love: “Let Love,” “The Cut That Heals,” “For New Love,” “To Seek Your Love,” “A Heart of Love” and “A Moment of Love.” Several of these prayers appear in my new book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

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: Alden Solovy

Secret Light

Posted on: January 4th, 2017 by Alden

Holiness surrounds us. That’s the theme of this meditation, inspired by my recent ELI talk, “Falling in Love with Prayer” (video soon to be posted). It’s my second meditation referring to the Psalm 97 couplet: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” A mishna on this line says that a secret light from the time of creation was stored away for the righteous to be revealed in the world to come. I believe that even G-d’s most special light is available to all of us.

Secret Light
The light of G-d
Is not well-hidden,
Not so secret,
That we must battle
The forces of nature
Or armies of evil
To stand it its glow.

It’s there,
Behind your eyes,
Pulsing from the hills,
Rising from the sands.
It’s there,
Inside a spade of dirt,
Inside the caper bud
And the orchid blossom,
In the old folks
And the little ones.

The light of G-d
Is not well-hidden.
Far enough
That you must begin the journey.
Close enough
That you will surely find it.

© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Being an ELI Speaker is a great experience. Learn more about it here. See also, “Sowing Light” and “Light 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.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

A Human Journey

Posted on: December 4th, 2016 by Alden

img_0727Something about this human journey elevates our souls: discovering deep resilience and healing in the face of our suffering, especially when unexpected tragedy or trauma hit. This is new a prayer of surrender, acknowledging that understanding G-d’s plans is beyond our reach, but that suffering has a purpose and that it is holy.

A Human Journey
My soul needs a human journey.
Sometimes, I wish it weren’t so.
Sometimes I wish that pain and suffering
Had no purpose and no meaning.
Or – if nothing else – G-d would
Share that purpose with me.
But, no, I must find that meaning
Myself.
Sickness and heath.
Disaster and trauma.
The steady drumbeat of death
From the moment of birth.

My soul needs a human journey.
I embrace my fear
With an open heart.
I embrace my hope and my yearning
Never knowing G-d’s answers,
Releasing the vain notion that
G-d will show up to explain
How the foundations of earth were built.

My soul needs a human journey.
Here is where love resides.
Here is where holiness and the mundane dance.
Here is where I encounter you, my friends.
Here is where I encounter You, my G-d.

Yah, Shecinah, Makor Hayiim,
Source of All,
Fountain of mystery,
Bless the hidden and the revealed.
Bless our moments and our years.
Bless this human journey of souls.

© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

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Postscript: Note the reference to Job 38:4: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast the understanding.” See also: “G-d’s Plan” and “Witnessing: A Meditation.” Please take a look at my books Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing and “This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Mediations for a New Day.”

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: Tatcha

Ha’azinu: We Are Music

Posted on: October 14th, 2016 by Alden

music-notesIn this week’s parasha Ha’azinu (Deut. 22), Moses sings a majestic farewell song, beginning by calling on the heavens to hear. The Haftarah (II Sam. 22:1-51) is David’s Song of Thanksgiving. This prayer/poem is about embodying the music of life, hearing the music created when we move in and out of moments together. This piece appears my forthcoming book, This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings, from CCAR Press.

We Are Music
Quiet now.
Listen.
Breathe.
And listen.

You are music.
Your breath and hands,
Your smile and tears,
Your eyes and pulse,
Are notes that dance
In the space between us.

We are music.
A symphony conducted
By the rhythm of life,
By G-d’s hand,
By our choices, day-by-day.

Our notes play on,
Separately, together,
The sacred sound of living.
Our music waltzes,
Making melodies fresh and new,
Never heard again,
Bass lines that pulse from our hearts
To the Soul of the Universe.

Joy bends sorrow.
Sorrow bends hope.
Hope bends grief.
Grief bends love.
Love bends joy.

Quiet now.
Listen.
Breathe.
And listen.

The silence is your longing.
The silence is your yearning for a different song.
The music of your own will
Blocks your heart to the harmonies
Already dancing around you,
To the chorus already singing around you.

Oh, you hidden delight of heaven.
Oh, you secret gift of G-d.
We are music.
We are music.
The music plays
Through us.

© 2019 CCAR Press from This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings

Postscript: While Moses calls on the heavens to give ear, this meditation calls on us to listen to our own — and to each other’s — hearts. This is my second meditation incorporating instructions to the reader into the prayer. The first is called “Invitations.” Both include this exclamation: “Oh, you hidden delight of heaven. Oh, you secret gift of G-d. Please see also: “Life as a Symphony,” “For the Gift of Song” and “For the Gift of Music.” This prayer first appeared on this site on Feb. 6, 2013.

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: Picks and Sticks Music

The Rhythm of Wonder

Posted on: May 22nd, 2016 by Alden

This meditation about radical amazement was inspired during a class on Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. I wondered silently if it would be possible to write a prayer that captures the experience of radical amazement, thus creating a meditation to prepare the eyes and open the heart to awe and wonder. Here’s a link to read an essay about the allusions and metaphors in this meditation — also entitled “The Rhythm of Wonder,” on RitualWell.org.

The Rhythm of Wonder
When the mountains sing,
When the seas dance,
When a crescent moon glides the heavens
And the sun lifts day from night,
When the rivers waltz to hymns of rain,
And the oceans drum on cliffs of stone,
When the caper bush wakes
And the wild iris blooms,
Remember this,
It’s not the wind that lifts the eagle.
The eagle lifts the wind.

You are the love
That frees the baritone hills
And the pirouette skies,
A shaft of light to loose the crescendos of glory
And the colors of awe,
A heartbeat summoning the rhythm of wonder,
A yearning to hear the pulse of G-d.

When silence resounds with music,
When darkness radiates light,
When creation reaches up
From the core of the earth,
And eternity is a breeze
From the edge of the universe,
When the call to holiness shines brilliant
In the breathless dawn,
Remember this,
It’s not the prayer that lifts the blessing.
The blessing lifts the prayer.

© 2016 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This prayer was inspired during a class called “Jewish Thinkers and their Worlds,” taught by Peta Jones Pellach, director of educational activities for the Elijah Interfaith Institute. During class

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.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Breathe

Posted on: July 12th, 2015 by Alden

Sky and LakeThis prayer is a simple reminder to breathe and the gifts that coming from simply being. It includes a space to include a name, yours or someone else’s, so that you can use it as reminder to yourself or as a hope for someone else. Six other pieces of mine include the instruction to breathe. Three of my favorites are: “Sing Praises,” “We Are Music” and “Invitations.”

Breathe
Listen, dear __________ (your name or another name),
Remember to breathe,
Remember to fill your chest
With the sweet taste of living,
To fill your heart
With a gentle gift of peace.
The breath of God
Surrounds you.
Let it flow through you.
The pulse of the universe
Beats with you.
Let it enliven you.
Invite your inhale,
The willingness of this moment.
Release your exhale,
And surrender to being.
Fill your lungs.
Feel them.
Feed them.
Heal them.
And you will know,
The majesty of now,
And the mystery
Of forever.

© 2015 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: My three other prayers with the instruction to breathe are: “Choosing to Heal,” “Let Your Heart Stir” and “Rules for Being Me in Jerusalem.”

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Photo Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library

Emor: Your Name: Meditation at Dusk

Posted on: April 29th, 2015 by Alden

Alden and the KinnertIn Parashat Emor, in one amazing line, we are given twin injunctions: one against profaning G-d’s name (chillul hashem) and the other to sanctity G-d’s name (kiddush hashem). This prayer is about sanctifying G-d’s name according to the blessings we receive. It appears in my book, This Grateful Heart: Psalms and  Prayers For a New Day.

Your Name: Meditation at Dusk
G-d of Old,
Your name is Peace.
Your name is Justice.
Your name is Mercy.

G-d of Life,
Your name is Compassion.
Your name is Love.
Your name is Hope.

G-d of Blessing,
Your name is Truth.
Your name is Wisdom.
Your name is Righteousness.

G-d of our fathers,
G-d of our mothers,
Your name is in my heart
And before my eyes.

Blessed are You Adonai,
Your name shines throughout creation.

“Your Name: Meditation at Dusk” is © 2017 CCAR Press. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This prayer first appeared on this site on July 14, 2011. I also used it for Va’eira 5773. The photo of me praying near the Kinneret was taking during the 2105 Tsad Kadima Hike for Hope by my friend Marc Render. Please check out “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” Other prayers of praise include: “Dance Hallelujah,” “Sing Hallelujah” and “In Praise.”

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.

Photo Source: Marc Render

Soul Shine

Posted on: February 1st, 2015 by Alden

Soul Shine PlateThis meditation is about allowing our souls to fill our hearts, to fill our minds and to fill our bodies with the radiance of heaven, so that we can bring that light into the world as tikun olam, the act of repairing the world. The meditation recognizes the majesty within each of us, declaring that that glory must be shared. This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Soul Shine
Let your soul shine
In your chest.
Let your heart sparkle
In your eyes.
Let joy
Fill your limbs with radiance.
Let love
Fill your hands with splendor.
You are the instrument
Of G-d’s music,
The tool
Of repairing the earth.
You are the voice
Of wonder and awe,
The song
Of hope and tomorrow.

This gift,
This majesty within,
Is not yours to keep.
It is not yours to hold.
It is not yours to hide.

Let your soul shine
Luminous, elegant,
Brave and true,
A beacon of praise,
A lantern of song,
A summons for holiness
To enter our lives
And this world.

Let your soul shine.
Set it free.
Set it free to fill the space
Between the here
And the unknown
With abundance
And with blessings.

© 2019 CCAR Press from This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings

Postscript: If you enjoyed this meditation, you might also like: “Fresh Delights,” “Come Walk,” “Let Me” and “This is the Place.” And for musical accompaniment, here’s a link to the Allman Brothers Band singing “Soulshine.”

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.

Photo Source: tomboyArt on Esty

Tending Gardens

Posted on: January 6th, 2015 by Alden

DSC01427_032Some gardens are tended by our hands. Others are tended by G-d’s will. This is a meditation on both the willingness to act in order to create beauty, as well as the power of refraining from action in order observe the beauty that arises from this amazing planet. This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

Tending Gardens
Wildflowers bloom,
A field of colors,
A meadow on a hillside,
Wild and free,
Tended by sun and rain,
Gently painted by the will of the earth.

Another place of delight,
My garden blooms,
A blueprint from my heart,
Guided by my hand
Tended with love and affection
Planted according to my design.

G-d of splendor,
Grant me the willingness to plant gardens
And the wisdom to leave other gardens
To Your loving hand.
Teach me the beauty of doing
And glory not doing.
Grant me the power to act
And the strength to refrain.
Let my will to create,
And my willingness to accept,
Find balance and harmony
In my heart and in my hands,
So that my doing,
And my not doing,
Serve Your will
And Your world.

© 2021 CCAR Press from This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer

Postscript: Other prayers that use the “garden” metaphor include: “Life as a Garden” and “Garden of Blessings.”

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 Source: Alden Solovy

Vayechi 5775: On the Birth of a Child

Posted on: December 30th, 2014 by Alden

Newborn-Baby-FeetIn Vayechi, Jacob “blesses” his children. They read like praises for some and curses for others. This is consistent with the parenting skills exhibited in Genesis, where parents play favorites, inflict trauma and neglect children. Every child deserves a loving parent, rich in blessings. For Vayechi 5775, here’s a prayer to be said by new parents who wish to provide nothing less. Gender choices are identified with a slash, such as “him / her.” Content choices are identified in [brackets.] This prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and HealingTo listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

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 [woman, man][us] and G-d.
What makes me worthy of you?
What makes me 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 father/mother/parent this new life,
This precious gift.
Give me humility, compassion and wisdom
To teach her/him Torah and Mitzvot
Through my actions and my life,
So that we become each other’s blessings.

Gracious G-d, be my 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.

© 2010 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: For Veyechi 5773, I posted a prayer called “Near the End: A Meditation.” For prayers about family, click here. See also: “On the Birth of Grandchildren.” This prayer first appeared on this site on June 25, 2010.

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. Please take a moment to explore my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

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