Tag Archive for "peace" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘peace’

Prayers for Social Justice

Posted on: October 27th, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a list of my prayers for social justice divided into three categories: the forgotten, global village and personal responsibility. These prayers would make meaningful additions to a Passover seder, to special events such as Global Hunger Shabbat or to honor the memory of civil rights leaders like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To read a prayer, click on the title:

The Forgotten

Prayers for those who need our dedication and our voices:

Against Human Trafficking – For freedom and healing.
Against Poverty – Economic well-being for all.
Against Hunger – To feed the world.
Against Worker Exploitation – For fair wages and conditions.

Global Village
Prayers for justice around the world:

Against Tyranny – For the end of the rule of tyrants.
For Women of Congo and Sudan – Against the abuse of these women.

Personal Responsibility

Prayers for strength to act and for sensitivity to the suffering of others:

Witnessing: A Meditation – For a deep sense of empathy and understanding.
For Service – For willingness and strength.

If you use any of these prayers, please click “like” on the page and subscribe. Please take a moment to post a link to your Facebook page, your blog or mention it in a tweet. Thanks. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!”

Photo Credit: Who Is Adam Clark

Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue)

Posted on: October 26th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer celebrates diversity in Jewish life. It honors the work of Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue) by envisioning a time when we look beyond our differences – gender, skin color, age, sexuality, conversion, observance – to see one House of Israel in service to G-d, our people, and tikkun olam. I wrote it at the suggestion of Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder, Be’chol Lashon’s rabbi-in-residence. The organization used it at their family camp and posted it to their website. It appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue)
We sing praises
Be’chol lashon,
In every tongue, in every voice,
In joy and sadness,
With music and with love.

We seek truth
Be’chol lashon,
In every tongue, with every breath,
In study and prayer,
With faith and with purpose.

We pursue justice
Be’chol lashon,
In every tongue, in every land,
In word and deed,
With strength and with courage.

We study Torah
Be’chol lashon,
In every tongue, in every generation,
In wonder and awe,
With zest and with zeal.

We are one people,
Present on Sinai,
Where G-d spoke Be’chol lashon,
In every tongue,
To every soul,
To every heart,
The whole House of Israel.

Postscript: Thanks again to Rabbi Ruth for suggesting this prayer and for her earlier invitation for me to write “A Liturgy for 9-11.”

Please check out my CCAR Press Grateful/Joyous/Precious trilogy. The individual books are: This Grateful Heart, This Joyous Soul, and This Precious Life. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines, 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. For a taste of my teaching, see my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer.”

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Photo Source: Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue)

Gilad, Home at Last: A Prayer of Rejoicing and Healing

Posted on: October 18th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a prayer of rejoicing, with a somber note that Gilad Shalit will need time to heal. It includes two stanzas to honor all the defenders of Israel and uses a line from Birkot Hashachar as the chatimah, the seal ending the prayer. The URJ has also posted this prayer to its blog.

Gilad, Home at Last
With your feet on the soil of our ancestors,
The land sings.
With your return to the home of our people,
The nation exalts.
As you enter the house of your parents,
Your kin weep.
When you build a new life
And take your place with your generation,
Am Yisroel will delight.

We will never forget the defenders of Israel.
We will never forget the guardians of Zion.
We will never forget the sentries of Am Kadosh.

G-d who frees the slave and liberates the captive,
We rejoice at this homecoming.
Grant Gilad Shalit a complete restoration from his isolation,
So that he knows joy and celebration.
Ease his burdens.
Release him from suffering.
Return him in wholeness to life.

We stand with the defenders of Israel.
We honor the guardians of Zion.
We hold dear the sentries of Am Kadosh.

G-d of Old,
You have returned this son of Israel to our people.
Now, bless him with all of Your gifts:
Vitality, energy, happiness and peace.

.ברוך אתה ה אלוקינו מלך העולם מתיר אסורים
Blessed are you, Adonai our God,
Sovereign of universe,
who releases the captive.

Postscript: In many ways, it seems to me, a prayer for Gilad is a prayer for us all. Here are two prayers for Israel: “Israel: A Meditation” and “A Song that Holds My Heart,” a prayer/song about Hatikvah. This prayer is an adaptation of one I wrote when news was annouced that he would be headed home, called “Prayer for Gilad’s Homecoming.” Here are additional prayers about Israel.

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, to your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks. Please subscribe. For reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column.

Prayer for Gilad’s Homecoming

Posted on: October 12th, 2011 by tobendlight

We have learned about hope. We can’t help it, yet until Gilad Shalit is back in Israel – alive and in the arms of his family – we worry, wait and hold our breath. We want this hope. We remember, too, that our hopes for Gilad, for our people, for peace, have been dashed so many times. My answer, of course, is prayer.

Addendum, 10/18/2011: With Gilad home, also see a new prayer “Gilad, Home at Last.”

Prayer for Gilad’s Homecoming
When you set foot on the soil of our ancestors
The land will sing.
When you return to the home of our people
The nation will exalt.
When you enter the house of your parents
Your kin will weep.
When you heal from the wounds of captivity
Am Yisroel will rejoice.

G-d who frees the slave and liberates the captive,
Grant Gilad Shalit this promised homecoming,
So that our hopes are fulfilled and that his recovery can begin.
Grant him a complete restoration from his years in solitude and isolation,
Away from his land and his nation, his family and his people,
So that he knows joy and celebration.
Ease his burdens.
Release him from suffering.
Return him in wholeness to life.

G-d of Old,
Return this son of Israel to our people.
Bless us with this reunion.
Bless him with all of Your gifts:
Vitality, energy, happiness and peace.

Postscript: In many ways, it seems to me, a prayer for Gilad is a prayer for us all. Here are two prayers for Israel: “Israel: A Meditation” and “For Peace in the Middle East.” Here are additional prayers about Israel.

Beauty Dances

Posted on: October 9th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a Sukkot prayer about the beauty that arrives with this festival of joy, and the call to bring that beauty into the world. This piece appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

Beauty Dances
Beauty dances
With us
Whenever we build
A tabernacle
To God’s holy Name.

Love sings
With us
Whenever we rejoice
In gladness
On God’s festive days.

Peace cries
With us
Whenever we yearn
In prayer
For God’s holy shelter.

Come,
Let us build this place,
This tabernacle where we praise,
With all of our hearts,
God’s pardon and promise.
Let us build this place,
Where we delight,
With thanksgiving and wonder,
In God’s bounty and gifts.

Come,
Let us build this place,
This sukkat shalom,
This shelter of peace,
Where beauty dances
And love sings.
Where peace cries out:
Build, build,
You Children of Israel,
A tent of holiness,
Strong and true.
Build it in your heart,
In your home,
In your life,
In God’s world.

Postscript: This appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. Click here for the full list of prayers for the Yamim Noraim.

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: The Toronto Centre

I Saw G-d

Posted on: September 27th, 2011 by tobendlight

This 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.

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.”

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, to your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks. For reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column.

Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

I Am Breathing

Posted on: September 24th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a meditation on the simple joys of breathing, hearing and seeing, but it’s really about the hope to embody in my own life the simple, gentle act of being. Here’s the piece, along with a photo I took of a sunrise over Lake Michigan one summer morning. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below.

I Am Breathing
I am.
Breathing.
I am breathing.
A prayer runs through it.
A prayer of hope.
A prayer of love.
A prayer of wholeness and heart.

I am.
Hearing.
I am hearing.
A song runs through it.
A song of joy.
A song of wonder.
A song of thanks and praise.

I am.
Seeing.
I am seeing.
A light runs through it.
A light of hope.
A light of love.
A light of wisdom and grace.

I am.
Being.
I am being.
My life runs through it.
A life of mystery.
A life of awe and splendor.
A life exalting G-d’s Holy Name.

Postscript: Other songs and prayers of the spiritual traveler include: “Come Walk,” “Leaving,” “Remember,” “Bird is Bird” and “Soarbird.”

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

For Libya

Posted on: September 1st, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a prayer for the people of Libya so that the Arab Spring will herald a new era of safety and prosperity for all people, peace and stability for all nations. Can you image a synagogue reopened there? To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

For Libya
G-d of All,
Protector and Redeemer,
Watch over the people of Libya
As they face war, revolt, violence and unrest.
Grant physical and emotional safety to
Citizens and residents, visitors and guests,
During this time of struggle and strife.
Grant wisdom and courage to its new leaders,
And insight to its advisors,
So that they forge a peaceful and prosperous future.
Lead them on a path toward justice.
Direct them on the road to freedom.
Make them a shining light of peace.

Source and Shelter,
Grant safety and security to all nations,
So that truth and harmony resound
From the four corners of the earth.
May this time of challenge for Libya
Become a blessing for its inhabitants
And for the world.

Blessed are You, G-d of All,
Forging nations and peoples
In the crucible of change
Throughout history.

Postscript: This was adapted for Libya from a prayer “For Egypt.” Please take a moment to read “For Peace in the Middle East” and “Israel: A Meditation.” Thanks to my friends Ros Roucher and Rabbi Paul Kipnes, Congregation Or Ami, Calabasas, Calif., for their comments on a draft of this prayer.

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, to your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks.

Please subscribe. For reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column.

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:

“Israel: A Meditation” – On the love of Israel our people and our nation
“Jerusalem: A Meditation” – On the joys and sorrows of our sacred city
“For Peace in the Middle East” – A hope for the future

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

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.

In Times of War

Posted on: May 2nd, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a prayer to be said in times of war. Of course, it’s a prayer for peace. It’s also a prayer for life, safety, hope and sound judgment from our national leaders. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below.

In Times of War
Ancient One,
G-d of compassion and mercy,
Our country is at war.
Our soldiers take arms,
Once more,
In pursuit of justice,
To defend and to protect life and liberty.

Grant our leaders with insight and strength
To guide our nation on a path of wisdom,
Using our power and might with courage, with caution and with care.
Keep our soldiers safe.
Return them swiftly in life and in health.
Bless the injured and wounded with Your healing hand
And their families with Your loving grace.
Grant a swift end to this and all human violence
So that fear and struggle give way to joy and hope.
Send compassion and protection
To refugees, widows and orphans
From every land and every conflict.

Guardian of Life,
Source and Shelter.
Bring harmony and tranquility
To all nations and all peoples
So that we may renew and rebuild,
In the name of compassion,
In the name of peace.

Blessed are You, Source of Peace.

Postscript: Here’s a prayer “For Peace in the Middle East.” Also, see my post about a liturgy for 9-11 for a prayer called “To the Terrorist.”

Posts Tagged ‘peace’

Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue)

Gilad, Home at Last: A Prayer of Rejoicing and Healing

Prayer for Gilad’s Homecoming

Beauty Dances

I Saw G-d

I Am Breathing

For Libya

Israel Soon

In Times of War

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