Tag Archive for "prayer" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘prayer’

Prayer after the Tornadoes

Posted on: April 28th, 2011 by tobendlight

A prayer for tornado victims, with Nashville as the new focus.

After the Tornadoes
G-d beyond my understanding,
The sky has turned violent,
Crushing homes and lives,
Upending dreams,
Toppling the foundations of hope and sustenance.
Crisis and chaos,
Confusion and loss,
A scene of sweeping destruction.

G-d of justice and mercy,
We pray for the people of ___________ [Nashville][other location],
And the victims of any disaster,
Any violence, suffering or despair.
Grant them shelter and solace,
Comfort and consolation,
Blessing and renewal.
May people of righteousness and mercy
Come swiftly to their aid.
Grant them endurance to survive,
Strength to rebuild,
Faith to mourn,
Courage to heal,
And devotion to each other.

G-d of heaven and earth,
Heavenly Guide,
Hand of love and shelter,
Grant the people of ___________ [Nashville][other location],
Your protection,
Your radiance,
And Your peace.

If you use this prayer, please click “like” on this 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 Source: NCAR |UCAR AtmosNews

Can These Bones Live?

Posted on: April 22nd, 2011 by tobendlight

?בֶּן-אָדָם, הֲתִחְיֶינָה הָעֲצָמוֹת הָאֵלֶּה
Son of man, can these bones live? — Ezekiel 37:3

We’ll read Ezekiel’s prophecy of the dry bones tomorrow, Shabbat Chol Hamoed Pesach and the anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah. It’s been a rough road for me and my family. At times I’ve felt like an empty shell of bones. Was it a coincidence that this was my reading? G-d renews us, both as individuals and as the whole house of Israel. I will chant these words again tomorrow.

This is a prayer for a new heart, for healing from within. Deep in my chest, I know what it’s like for a dulled heart to reawaken to life. It is neither gentle nor painless. On this anniversary, I honor my own journey by reposting this prayer. For G-d, indeed, has blessed me with a new heart. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The entire text follows.

This Stubborn Heart
This heart refuses to heal.
The pain must stay fresh,
The wound must stay open.
How else will I remember
The shattered love,
The scattered dreams?

No more!
I reject this heart that scorns
The balm of time,
The salve of companions,
The grace of music,
The power of the open sky.

Let joy and humor
Fill my chest with passion
For every moment,
Every person,
Every longing,
And every desire.
Let it pump sweetness
From ventricle to ventricle
And into my empty veins.

Cut out this stubborn heart.
Replace it with a clean organ,
Fresh with romance and blood.

Postscript: This prayer also fits, albeit awkwardly given the tone, into the theme of the first week of Counting the Omer, Chesed: Loving-kindness, benevolence. This prayer was originally posted July 13, 2010.

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, your blog or as part of a tweet. 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.

Carry Me

Posted on: April 17th, 2011 by tobendlight

Jews are called upon to take action, to work in partnership with G-d for tikkun olam. Yet at times I just need G-d to carry me through the day. This is a prayer for G-d’s presence, so that I can live a life of service. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

Carry Me
G-d, carry me today,
With Your love,
Your grace,
Your wisdom and strength.
G-d, carry me today,
With Your power,
Your justice,
Your holiness and law.
G-d, carry me today,
Through stormy winds and rough seas,
The obvious and unforeseen
Challenges and losses,
The uneven flow of my emotions,
My fears and my shames.

Today, G-d on high,
I will not succeed alone.
I will not survive alone.
I need Your majesty and might,
Your dignity and righteousness,
To carry me through the day ahead.
With You as my Rock and Shield
I will face this day with an answer
To loneliness and dread,
Misgivings and mistakes,
To stand with courage and freedom
Against misfortune and deceit.

G-d, carry me today.
Give me healing hands,
A quiet mind,
Gentle speech
And a forgiving heart.
Let me feel You in my chest.
Let me feel You in my limbs.
Let me feel You by my side.

Blessed are You, G-d of All,
You are the answer to those in need.

Postscript: Other prayers about connecting with G-d’s love and healing the heart include: “The Wound,” “This Stubborn Heart” and “Witnessing: A Meditation.”

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.

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

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.

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.

For A Critically Ill Mother

Posted on: January 10th, 2011 by tobendlight

Last night friends asked me for a prayer for their ill mother. I wrote it this morning. This prayer will appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

For A Critically-Ill Mother
Holy One,
G-d of health and healing,
My mother’s body is failing.
Illness holds her.
Grief and fear hold me.

Ancient One,
Well of hope,
Grant my mother
A quick and complete recovery.
Relieve her suffering.
Remove her pain.
Return her to health.
Restore her to life.

Rock of my heart,
Comfort and shelter,
You know the path ahead.
You know the journey.
You hear our prayers.
G-d who healed Miriam in the desert,
Bring Your healing power to
_______________ (mother’s name in Hebrew or your native tongue)
So that she may know life and health,
Joy and peace.

Blessed are You,
Adonai our G-d,
Creator of motherly wisdom and grace,
Rock of life,
Source of love.

Postscript: Here’s another prayer for our mothers, “For the Matriarch.” And prayers for healing: “For a Critically Ill Child,” “For a Critically Ill Father,” “For a Critically Ill Sister or Brother,” “For Surgery,” “Upon Recovery from Surgery” and “For Healing the Spirit.” Please share the healing: post a link to one of these healing prayers to your Facebook page or to your blog. Email a link to a friend in need.

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.

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.

Now

Posted on: December 29th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is the third of a three-part meditation about the rhythm and flow of life. These meditations are written to be recited in order: “Leaving,” “Arriving” and “Now.” Please listen along as you read. Click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Now
This is now.
Always now.
Now and now and now.
The arrivals and departures
That bring me here
And take me way,
Are only dreams and memories,
Windows and smoky mirrors,
Distractions from the pulse of this moment.

What is this thing called now that always leaves,
That always arrives,
That changes and stays the same,
That is always present, ripe and waiting?
This is now.
Always now.
And the world is full of
Now and now and now.

Oh to live in this life,
This wondrous river of gifts.
This being. This becoming.
This shimmering light of awe and thanksgiving.
Let the currents flow,
Let the tides shift
And the moon rise and set,
So that now stays vital, vibrant and alive
With joy and grace.

Postscript: Take a look at my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

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

Posts Tagged ‘prayer’

Prayer after the Tornadoes

Can These Bones Live?

Carry Me

Meditation for Today

A Year of Prayer

For Prayer

Miriam Danced

For A Critically Ill Mother

Music and Song

Now

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

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