Posts Tagged ‘mystery’

 

Doubt, Fear, Anger, Shame

Posted on: October 4th, 2011 by tobendlight

Can doubt, fear, anger or shame be blessings? Here are links to four prayers about troublesome emotions. They speak to the need to reclaim the gifts hidden in these feelings: the challenge to grow and change, the opportunity to harness them for healing. As we move toward repentance, prayer and righteousness on Yom Kippur, may we find ways to redeem our feelings, our experiences and our lives as blessings. Here are links to four prayers about facing these emotions:

Here’s a prayer about the witnessing the pain of others, called: “Witnessing: A Meditation.”

Click here for a prayers for the Yamim Noraim, listed by topics. Here’s a focused list of prayers for Elul, one of prayers for Rosh Hashana, another for Yom Kippur prayers and one more for Sukkot. And here’s a link to yizkor and memorial prayers.

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I Saw G-d

Posted on: September 27th, 2011 by tobendlight

NRCSCO84002.TIFThis is the third piece – written in the voice of the spiritual traveler – that loosely follows a meter and a rhyming pattern, which is not my typical style. The others are “Come Walk” and “Each Day.” The three pieces fit together loosely as a series, although this piece and “Come Walk” are more closely connected.

I Saw G-d
I saw G-d in the color of the rainbow.
I saw G-d in the color of the sky.
I saw G-d in my mirror.
I saw G-d in the color of your eyes.

I heard G-d in your laughter.
I heard G-d in your breathless cry.
I heard G-d in my heartbeat.
I heard G-d in your secret sigh.

I felt G-d in the quiet morning.
I felt G-d in the lonely night.
I felt G-d in your gentle breathing.
I felt G-d in your holy light.

I know G-d as Source and Shelter.
I know G-d as the Rock of Love.
I know G-d as Grace and Wisdom.
I know G-d as the Rock of Life.

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

Postscript: Check out “Come Walk” and “Each Day.” Other songs, prayers and poems of the spiritual traveler include: “Leaving,”  “Remember,” “About the Rainbow,” “Bird is Bird” and “Soarbird.”

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Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

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.

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

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

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

Small Moments

Posted on: July 28th, 2011 by tobendlight

compassion-2This prayer is about seeking the smallest moments of beauty and compassion. When we seek compassion, our souls bonds with the idea that it is an essential human quality. The prayer was written, in part, as an antidote to another of my prayers, a challenging piece called “Witnessing: A Meditation.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

Small Moments
Have you seen the secret nod of understanding between old friends?
Or the first wobbly steps of a child?
Have you heard an old man sigh as he sits down in a chair?
Have you captured, from the corner of your eye,
An act of gentle sweetness,
A fleeting gesture nearly missed as you rushed by?

Listen and hear.
Look and see.
Touch and feel.
Breath and smell.
Taste and remember.

Do you recall the radiance of sunrise?
Or the brilliance of the full moon?
Do you savor the small moments
Of joy and wonder bursting forth around you?
Do you notice the gifts of friendship, kindness and love?
If you do, bless you.
If you don’t, these blessings await you.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Source of daily splendor,
You gave us vision and understanding
So that we can witness and celebrate
Acts of generous spirit,
Expressions of compassion and healing,
The tiniest gestures of holiness and love.
Open our hearts to the precious glories of our days.

Blessed are You, Holy One of Old,
Beauty abounds.

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

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 20th day of counting the Omer: “Bonding in Compassion.”

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: Good Life Zen

Prayer Released

Posted on: July 17th, 2011 by tobendlight

800px-Candles_flame_in_the_wind-otherHere’s a meditation asking G-d to help give us voice to the prayers hidden deep in of our flesh and our bones. It’s similar to “For Prayer,” but carries a deeper sense of yearning. So far, I’ve written 11 prayers about prayer, including one to be said “Before Writing a Prayer” and one for “After Writing a Prayer.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

Prayer Released
There’s a prayer stuck in my throat,
Longing to be given voice,
Yearning to be heard.

There’s a prayer stuck in my limbs,
Longing to be given power,
Yearning to be seen.

There’s a prayer stuck in my lungs,
Longing to be given breath,
Yearning to be given life.

G-d of Old,
Release the prayer hidden deep in my bones,
The prayers that move through my veins and through my heart.
Let my body become a blessing of joy and service.
Let my being become an instrument of holiness and light.
Let my life praise creation with all of my deeds.

Ancient One,
Use my voice,
My limbs,
And my breath.
Set free this chorus of sacred love,
This symphony of
Radiance and splendor.

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

Postscript: This is another offering in my series of prayers about prayer, including: “For Prayer,” “Prayers of My Heart,” “Whispered Prayer,” “To Pray” and “Prayer for You, Prayer for Me.”

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: Sam Mugraby, Photos8.com

Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk

Posted on: July 14th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer is about naming G-d according to the blessings we receive. It’s another in my series of “quick prayers,” including: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon” and “Quick Meditation at Night.” The irony is this: the more time I take thinking about the words of this particular prayer, the more gratitude I receive.

To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

Your Name: Quick Prayer 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.

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

Postscript: 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 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.

Shabbat Prayers and Stories

Posted on: July 7th, 2011 by tobendlight

KabbalatShabbat1In Israel, Shabbat sparkles. Here’s an annotated list of my prayers, blessings and stories with Shabbat as the central theme. My (current) favorites are “Come, Beloved” and “Shabbat Settles on Jerusalem.”

Prayers:

Blessings:

Stories:

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

Tweetable! Here’a suggested tweet. Please tweet it (with link): Lovely shabbat prayers and stories from @tobendlight: https://tobendlight.com/?p=3458

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 credit: The Little Minyan

A Heart That Hears

Posted on: June 19th, 2011 by tobendlight

Combine the vision of the spiritual traveler with the voice of admonishing prophet and the result is a stark warning about the dangers of the mystical journey. This prayer ends with the seed of hope that even in despair G-d is available to us. This is part of a series, including “A Heart of Vision” and “A Heart of Love.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

A Heart That Hears
I cannot hear Your Voice with my ears.
I cannot touch Your Glory with my hands.
Only my heart can know,
Your justice and mercy,
Your law and command,
The deafening blast of Your Shofar,
And the hushed whispers within.

Listen dear sisters,
Dear brothers!
Do not be quick to pray
To hear from the center of your being,
To perceive from the inside out.
When your heart beats with the music of the ages
You will dance in the heavens.
But when silence empties your grieving heart
You will lie vacant and hollow before the tent of G-d.

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

Postscript: Other prayers incorporating the voice of the prophet include: “Let Love,” “Let Joy,” “Let Truth” and “Let Holiness.”

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

Offerings

Posted on: May 22nd, 2011 by tobendlight

hope-hebrew-t-shirt_designIn this simple set of rhythmic, parallel verses we affirm the connection between G-d’s gifts and our responses. The result is hope for a lasting dialogue with G-d. In communal worship this can be used as a congregational mediation or it can be read responsively. I use this prayer during week five of counting the Omer. It appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Offerings
When G-d offers love, I offer my heart.
When G-d offers wisdom, I offer my mind.

When G-d offers beauty, I offer my senses.
When G-d offers silence, I offer my patience.

When G-d offers challenge, I offer my strength.
When G-d offers trial, I offer my faith.

When G-d offers pain, I offer my dignity.
When G-d offers fear, I offer my courage.

When G-d offers grief, I offer my endurance.
When G-d offers shame, I offer my amends.

When G-d offers death, I offer my mourning.
When G-d offers life, I offer my rejoicing.

When G-d offers joy, I offer my thanksgiving.
When G-d offers awe, I offer my wonder.

When G-d offers righteousness, I offer my blessings.
When G-d offers holiness, I offer my praise.

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

Postscript: Other prayers about G-d’s gifts include: “This Bounty,” “These Blessings” and “In Plain Sight.” This “Meditation After the Yom Kippur Vidui” is also about offering ourselves in service to G-d.

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: The Word in Hebrew

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