Tag Archive for "pray" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘pray’

This Bounty

Posted on: April 14th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer celebrates G-d’s bounty and grace, making it a lovely prayer for both Sukkot and Thanksgiving. It will appear in This Grateful Heart, my forthcoming from CCAR Press.

This Bounty
G-d of abundance,
You have blessed me
With Your bounty
Your love,
Your grace,
The treasures of Your creation.

In gratitude for these gifts,
Holy One,
Bless me with wisdom
To use them with skill,
In service to Your holy name.

Bless me with humility
To use them with joy
In service to Your creation.

Bless me with a generous heart
And a forgiving hand
In service to Your commandments.

Bless me with a strong arm
And a curious mind
In the name of tikkun olam.

Bless me with gentle speech
And joyous laughter,
So that all my works
Summon holiness into Your world.

Then, Rock of Israel,
I will honor Your glorious gifts
With all my being.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Your bounty calls us to service.

Postscript: Here are a few prayers with a similar theme: “Life as A Banquet,” “These Blessings” and “Giving Thanks.” And If you would, please put in a quick prayer for Dana, Marty and me. Thanks.

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Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Meditation for Today

Posted on: April 12th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a simple daily prayer for a kindness, gentleness and peace from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. It is applicable in times of joy and times of duress.

Meditation for Today
G-d,
Help me through this day.
Guide me toward kindness, gentleness and peace.
Grant me strength and endurance,
Courage and humor,
So that I may do Your will with a full heart,
In joy and in love.
Grant me wholeness, wonder and awe.
Then, G-d of Old,
I will become a source of blessings,
A light of Your word.

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and my two CCAR Press books: This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings 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

Passover Prayers

Posted on: April 2nd, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a list of my prayers that would make lovely additions to your Passover Seder, divided into four categories: prayers about freedom, prayers for social justice, prayers for Hallel and Counting the Omer. Many of them appear in Haggadah Companion: Meditations and Readings. Some appear in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. To read them, click on the name of the prayer:

Prayers About Freedom
Egypt Inside – About personal freedom
Breaking Bonds – Setting ourselves free
The Season of Freedom – A time to be free
Release Me – Freedom from emotions that hold me back
Elijah – Our deepest yearning for a world of wholeness

Prayers for Social Justice
To The Streets – About taking tikun olam to the streets
Against Human Trafficking – For modern-day slaves
Against Tyranny – For an end to the rule of tyrants
Against Poverty – For all to live in economic well-being
Against Worker Exploitation – For fair wages and conditions
Against Hunger – To feed the world
For Women of Congo and Sudan – Against the abuse of these women

Prayers for Hallel
Dance Hallelujah – To dance in praise of G-d
Sing Hallelujah – To sing in praise of G-d
In Praise – To speak in praise of G-d

Counting the Omer and Other Topics
The Season of Counting – About the meaning of counting
For Spring – For the new season
History – About the gifts of memory and history
Jerusalem: A Meditation – “Next year in Jerusalem!”

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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.

A Year of Prayer

Posted on: March 22nd, 2011 by tobendlight

Today marks the first anniversary of launching this site. Thank you for your connection and commitment to prayer. Thank you for taking time to read and listen to my words. Here’s a list of just a few of my favorites:

The list represents a nice mix of the styles and voices that I use for writing prayers. So far, this site holds 128 posts, including 114 original prayers and seven short stories. It has 79 subscribers, 283 fans on Facebook and has had nearly 13,000 page views. My hope is that this represents a wonderful, albeit small, start.

How Do You Use These Prayers?
Knowing that these prayers are being used helps to energize my work. Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, Montreal, includes them in service handouts. Positive Jewish Living, Pastor Austin Fleming, Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Rabbi Paul Kipnes, Congregation Or Ami, Calabasas, CA, have shared my prayers with their readers. Thanks to all of you. How do you use these prayers? What other topics, emotions or moments need to be captured in prayer? What else would you like to see on this site? Please drop me an email or reply to this post.

A Few Words of Thanks
As a result of this site I’ve met amazing people from the Jewish world. I’m touched by everyone who’s reached out to connect. My deepest gratitude for the support of Beth Emet, The Free Synagogue, Evanston, IL. Special thanks to Joe Tye, Michael Greenwald, Rabbi Peter Knobel, Rabbi Andrea London, Larry Kaufman, Brenda Epstein, Beth Schafer, Rabbi Lisa Silverstein Tzur, Andrew Dennen and Tracy Friend for their love and encouragement. If you think you need to be thanked, you probably do and I apologize for missing your name.

Thanks again to all of my readers, partners in prayer.

B’Shalom,

Alden

For Prayer

Posted on: March 9th, 2011 by tobendlight

At times when the words of prayer don’t come so easily, what then? Perhaps the answer is simply to pray for the gift of prayer. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Prayer
Source of All,
Fill my heart with joy and thanksgiving,
My eyes with vision and hope,
My limbs with strength and vigor.
Fill my breath with kindness and grace,
So that the wonder of Your blessings never leaves me.
Then my lips will remember to sing in holy praise,
To sing of beauty and glory and love.

Rock of Israel,
We pray for the gift of prayer,
For song and music,
For silence and devotion,
For steadfast love of You.

With prayer we bless You.
With song we praise You.
With music we extol You.
With silence we hear You.
With devotion we follow You.
In love we declare Your Holy Name.

Postscript: This is another offering in my series of prayers about prayer, including: “Prayer Released,” “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. If you like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Miriam Danced

Posted on: January 13th, 2011 by tobendlight

“And the women dancing with their timbrels
Followed Miriam as she sang her song…”
― Debbie Friedman, z”l, inspired by Exodus 15-20-21

“You turned my mourning into dancing
So that my soul might turn to you…”
― Debbie Friedman, z”l, inspired by Psalm 30

Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Montreal is using four of my prayers in a meditation booklet for Shabbat Shira in memory of Debbie Friedman, z”l: two about music and song, reposted here, and two about dance, reposted below. It’s humbling to see our liturgy, Debbie’s songs and my prayers together. Brenda Epstein compiles mediations for the Temple. Thanks for sharing my work with your community.

Dance Hallelujah
Hallelujah
A dance of wonder,
A dance of joy and thanksgiving.
Arms raised, hands to the sky.
Feet solid, connected to earth.
A step, a bend, a twirl, a leap.
A breath of light,
A stream of color,
Spinning toward radiance and splendor.

Let my feet lead me toward Your holy realm.
Let my legs carry me toward Your divine word.
Let my arms lift praises toward Your marvelous works.
Let my body exclaim the power of Your awesome ways.

Hallelujah
A dance of light and love,
A dance of energy and endurance,
A dance of humility and grace.

G-d of Miriam,
Prophet who danced by the sea,
Teach me the dance of awe and mystery,
Of devotion and ecstasy,
Of passion and praise.
Teach me to dance my Hallelujah.
Teach me to live my Hallelujah.
A dance of radiance,
A dance of splendor,
A dance of peace.

For the Gift of Dance
G-d, we give thanks for the gift of dance,
For the gift of rhythm and movement,
For the gift of power, awe, wonder and thanksgiving
Expressed through our bodies
In celebration of Your Divine creation.
Hear this prayer for those who dance for love and healing,
For prayer and repentance,
Seeking wholeness and light.
Make their bodies your vessel.
Let heaven pour grace and beauty through them
So that they overflow with Your spirit,
Drawing others to Your mysteries.
So that when we see this dance
Our souls turn back to You in celebration.
Together, we offer our spirits back to heaven,
And rejoice.

Postscript: Here are links to the four prayers selected by Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom with audio: “For the Gift of Song,” “For the Gift of Dance,” “For the Gift of Music,” and “Dance Hallelujah.”

Please use these prayers. See “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column.

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Music and Song

Posted on: January 9th, 2011 by tobendlight

Here are two prayers — “For the Gift of Song” and “For the Gift of Music” — reposted in memory of Debbie Friedman, z”l. Her Mi Sheberach got me through the death of my wife. I hope these prayers are a source of meaning and comfort for those of you who knew her, learned from her and sang with her. Even though I can say none of those things, she played a key role in my healing.

For the Gift of Song
G-d, we give thanks for the gift of song,
For the gift of melody and harmony,
For the gift of voices quilted together in chorus,
Lifting praises toward the holy realms.
Hear this prayer for those who chant in Your Name,
Who chant for healing,
Who chant to witness Your love,
Your power,
Your grace.
Make their voices Your vessel.
Let heaven pour joy through them
So that they overflow with Your light,
Drawing others to Your glory.
So that when we hear their song
Our hearts turn back to You in peace.
Together, we offer our prayer back to heaven
And rejoice.

For the Gift of Music
G-d, we give thanks for the gift of music,
For horn and flute,
For strings and drums,
For crescendo and staccato,
For the gift that gives our spirits a divine voice.
Hear this prayer for those who write music, arranging sound, seeking beauty.
Hear this prayer for those who play music, creating sound, releasing beauty.
Make their music Your vessel.
Let heaven pour joy and sorrow, love and loss through them
So that they overflow with Your most secret prayers for Your people,
Drawing others to Your blessings.
So that when we hear their music
Our souls turn back to You for shelter.
Together, we offer our voices back to heaven,
And rejoice.

Postscript: Other prayers for the creative arts include: “For the Gift of Dance,” “For the Gift of Art” and “For the Gift of Laughter.”

Please use these prayers. See “Share The Prayer!” in the right hand column.

Rejoice!

Posted on: September 19th, 2010 by tobendlight

Sukkot is z’man simcahteinu, “the time of our rejoicing.” We’re commanded to be happy during Sukkot. Commanded? While joy is an emotion, it’s also a spiritual practice. So practice. For a week, the choice to make is joy. This prayer/poem is about the practice of joy. It appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

Rejoice!
Dance one-thousand steps toward heaven.
Sing one-thousand hymns of praise.
Breathe one-thousand breaths of glory.
Rejoice!

Climb one-thousand steps of courage.
Chant one-thousand hymns of hope.
Laugh one-thousand breaths of healing.
Rejoice!

Walk one-thousand steps of power.
Hum one-thousand hymns of life.
Share one-thousand breaths of wonder.
Rejoice!

Leap one-thousand steps toward beauty.
Cry one-thousand hymns of joy.
Feel one-thousand breaths of mystery.
Rejoice! Rejoice!

Postscript: Here’s a prayer called “Let Joy” and another called “For Joy.” This link is to a list of all of my Sukkot prayers.

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.

Upon Recovery From Surgery

Posted on: September 3rd, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is for an individual recovering from surgery. It gives thanks for healing and, as an act of immediate gratitude, asks for blessings on caregivers, healing for others and blessings on those whose recovery is still questionable. This prayer will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. For those about to undergo surgery, please read “For Surgery.” Here is a post-surgery prayer for those who have “Complications after Surgery.”

Upon Recovery From Surgery
G-d of renewal and strength,
Thank you for the gifts of vitality, comfort and recovery
After the many traumas of surgery.

Grant me continued health and healing
As my body and spirit use Divine energy,
Endowed by Your loving hand,
To find wholeness.

Bless my surgeon with skill and my caregivers with love,
So that others may know the awesome wonder
Of new spirit,
New joy,
And renewed life.

Bless those whose recovery is not yet complete,
Whose future remains uncertain.
Erase their worries,
Console their children,
Strengthen their parents,
Fortify their partners
And bring peace to their families and friends.

May the One who heals with holiness and love,
Grant recovery to all in need.

Postscript: Here are more prayers for healing: “For a Critically-Ill Child,” “For Surgery,” “Upon Recovery from Surgery” and “For Healing the Spirit.”

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

Photo Source: Integra Life Sciences

Life as a Banquet

Posted on: August 29th, 2010 by tobendlight

The banquet of your life is full. Rejoice in the blessings. Share the bounty. This is one of four prayers that begin with a reflection on human limits as the gateway to rejoicing in Divine gifts. And sharing them. Here’s a link to more prayers appropriate for Thanksgiving.

Life as a Banquet
G-d of sacred time,
Source of sacred space,
Creator of holiness,
Divine light of wonder and awe,
My vision is clouded,
My sight limited,
The horizon of this world binds my perceptions.
What I see and what I know are tied to my awareness.

Heavenly hand of wisdom,
Guardian of realms above and realms below,
You who give understanding and insight,
Grant me the grace to live my life as a banquet,
A river of abundance and blessing
That yields food and clothing and shelter,
That I accept with humility and thanksgiving.
Give me the strength and compassion
To share these gifts with those in need,
To become an instrument of Divine bounty.

You who provide gifts beyond measure,
Guide me with Your love,
Teach me with Your holiness,
Show me the path to charity and service,
So that I live a life of dignity and honor,
With reverence for Your creation.

Blessed are You, G-d of time and space,
Providing bounty to be shared.

Postscript: Please check out these related prayers: “Life as a Symphony,” “Life as a Ceremony” and “Life as a Garden.”

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.

Photo Source: Taste With the Eyes

Posts Tagged ‘pray’

This Bounty

Meditation for Today

Passover Prayers

A Year of Prayer

For Prayer

Miriam Danced

Music and Song

Rejoice!

Upon Recovery From Surgery

Life as a Banquet

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