Posts Tagged ‘redemption’

 

Fire Within

Posted on: January 21st, 2012 by tobendlight

1-heart-on-fireThe collective Jewish response to grief is joy, to attempt to live in joy no matter what. Not always an easy path, but it leads to a deep healing that allows the full spectrum of emotion into our lives. Joy and grief are welcome, because they are part of accepting G-d’s world as it is. Living in joy, with all our strength and energy, is part of claiming a stake in G-d’s future world, a world of complete happiness and peace, a world that is yet to come. This piece will appear in my forthcoming book, Song of the Spiritual Traveler. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

Fire Within
My burns
Cannot be seen on my flesh.
They are in my lungs
And in my eyes.
What medicine will halt the smoldering,
The smoke that suffocates from within?

My cuts
Cannot be seen on my skin.
They are in my heart
And in my throat.
What medicine will heal the bleeding,
The tide that floods from within?

Ancient One,
Release me from the fire and the knife:
The flame that consumes hope and joy,
The blade that destroys time and seasons.

Holy One,
Rock and Shelter,
Your medicine is love.
Your salve is holiness.
Your balm is life.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Eternal Source of wholeness and healing.

© 2012 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: I originally conceived this as a prayer for men. Many of us experience our internal struggles – fears, losses, shames, angers – as fire and knife. Although I don’t know if the metaphor holds for women, this piece seems more universally prayer for healing than other of my prayers for men.

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.

Photo credit: zoeyryanthoughts.com

A Heart of Love

Posted on: December 11th, 2011 by tobendlight

IMG_7032What’s the response to spiritual heartbreak, to the deep longing that remains when G-d seems distant? This prayer/poem combines the vision of the spiritual traveler with a voice of warning. The result: a stark reminder about the risks of total surrender to G-d’s love. It ends on a brief note of hope, acknowledging that even in despair G-d is available to all of us. This is the third in this series, including “A Heart of Vision” and “A Heart that Hears.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

A Heart of Love
I cannot hold Your love in my arms.
I cannot find Your presence with my hands.
Only my heart can know Your radiance and splendor,
Your compassion and forgiveness,
Your laughter and Your light.

Listen dear sisters,
Dear brothers.
Do not be quick to pray
To embrace life from the center of your being,
To connect from the inside out.
When you hold love in the cradle of your heart
You will drink at the oasis of joy.
But when sorrow dries up your aching chest,
You will be parched and faint
Before the fountain of G-d.

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

Postscript: The following prayers tackle the same theme with a call to action and a softer edge: “Let Love,” “Let Joy,” “Let Truth,” and “Let Holiness.” And here’s a prayer called “For Healing the Spirit.” Please consider purchasing 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

This Day

Posted on: November 27th, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s another prayer about living a life of love and honor in service to G-d and the world. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

This Day
What do I ask of this day?

Joy and laughter.
Kindness and grace.
To live with dignity and compassion,
Humility and strength.
Work. Honest Labor.
A job. A livelihood.
Food. Clothing. Shelter.
Gratitude and hope.
Love and contentment.

What does this day ask of me?

Humor and wonder.
Forgiveness and surrender.
To act with reverence and respect.
To be awake and alive
With passion and commitment.
Justice. Righteousness. Charity.
Integrity and honor.
Gratitude and hope.
Love and contentment.

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

Postscript: Here are more brief prayers for the day: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.”

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, 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!”

Every Heart

Posted on: November 23rd, 2011 by tobendlight

Aurora BorealisThis is a prayer in praise of G-d’s radiance and majesty in the world, creating a lovely transition from Shabbat into the week. It carries the age-old Jewish longing that the power of rejoicing in prayer will herald a time of wholeness, holiness and peace, echoing the theme and rhythm of the Aleinu. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows. This prayer will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

 

Every Heart
Let us exalt
Your Holy Name.
Proclaiming Your Majesty.
Proclaiming Your Sovereignty,
Proclaiming Your Splendor.
Let our limbs announce Your Radiance,
And our voices declare Your Glory.
Let us sing and shout,
So that the hills echo with praise,
And the streets pulse with prayer.
So that the seas swell with rejoicing,
And the cities vibrate with thanksgiving.
Then the universe will expand with wonder,
And the heavenly host will join in the song.
The gates of righteousness will burst open.
The path to mystery will shine.
The way to holiness will sparkle.
The route to beauty will gleam.
Every heart will turn to You,
Adonai our G-d,
In joyous surrender.
Every heart will know gratitude and love,
Happiness and consolation.
Justice and mercy will reign,
And peace will hallow the earth.

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

Postscript: Other prayers of praise include “Dance Hallelujah” and “Sing Hallelujah.” Here’s a link to prayers of Thanksgiving.

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Photo credit: Iowa State University

This Mirror

Posted on: November 13th, 2011 by tobendlight

It takes courage to see me to see myself as I really am, with my strengths and my weaknesses. This prayer is a reminder – to me and other men – that I can only become a man of love and action if I see myself clearly, forgive my lapses and bless my being. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

This Mirror
With love in my left hand
And courage in my right,
I approach the mirror of my life to see
A sage and a fool,
A hero and a coward,
A king and a peasant,
A prophet and a heretic,
The rich texture of my being and my becoming.

Oh to be the summer breeze
Warmed by the gentle morning sun.
Oh to be the lazy creek,
Shaded by branches and leaves.

This mirror sees the light of holiness within,
The gifts I’ve been given,
The gifts I return to earth and sky.
This mirror reflects radiance and wonder,
A rainbow of experience and emotion,
A luminous and divine spirit.

Oh to be an eagle soaring on the wind.
Oh to be an owl soaring in the night.
Oh to be that man in the mirror.
Oh to be me.

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

Postscript: Here are related prayers for men: “My Work Remains,” “For the Lost” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs.” And here is a list of more prayers for and about men.

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.

Summon My Heart

Posted on: November 6th, 2011 by tobendlight

G-d is all around us, in every moment and every breath. Yet the Holy One of Old still calls us to seek and discover the glory and the might, the wisdom and the word. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Summon My Heart
There is no summit,
No peak,
No mountain top
For me to find G-d.
G-d has already found me
In small moments and quiet breaths,
In the howling winds and the raging sky.

There is no road,
No trail,
No path
For me to find G-d.
G-d has already found me
In toil and in rest,
In the moonlit night and the glow at daybreak.

And yet,
G-d of Old,
You summon me
To wander and roam,
To journey, to discover.
To know You in all things.
To see You in all beings.
To love You with every breath.
To serve You with a full heart.

G-d of wisdom,
Grant me adventure and wonder,
Joy and amazement,
Seeking Your holy Word,
Praising Your holy Name.

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

Postscript: Two more prayers of heart: “This Stubborn Heart” and “My Heart Knows What it Needs.” And a prayer about wandering: “Your Light.”

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Against Hunger – A Prayer for Global Hunger Shabbat

Posted on: November 2nd, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer “Against Hunger” can be used during your Passover seder, perhaps as a supplement to “ha lachma anya,” and for Global Hunger Shabbat promoted by the American Jewish World Service, which is on Nov. 2-3, 2012. It is part of my series of prayers for social justice including: “Against Poverty,” “Against Human Trafficking” and “Against Tyranny.”

Against Hunger
G-d of the poor,
G-d of the starving and the malnourished,
The voice of grief echoes across the land.
Dismayed and abandoned in a world of abundance,
Our children,
Our brothers
And our sisters,
Struggle to feed their families,
Struggle to put food on the table,
As they watch emptiness and longing
Consume their kin,
As they watch disease and death,
Encircle their homes and their lives.

Source of bounty and plenty,
Rock of compassion and mercy,
You call upon us to stand in the name of justice and healing,
To witness against indifference and neglect,
To solve issues of scarcity and distribution,
To create a world of agricultural success in every land,
And among every people.

Bless those who dedicate their lives to the hungry and the forgotten.
Bless those who take to the cities and the countryside to offer food and sustenance.
Bless those who teach others to feed themselves.
Bless those whose ideas and research will lead to new solutions for ending this plague.
Bless those who plead on behalf of the needy and the poor before the seats of power.
Give them courage and determination.
Give them wisdom and skill.
May the work of their hands never falter
Nor despair deter them from this holy calling.

Bless the hungry with resources.
Release them from want.
Hasten the day of their self-sufficiency and bounty.

Blessed are You, G-d of All Being,
Who summons us to oppose the tyranny of hunger.

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

Postscript: Click here for more prayers about social justice. This prayer would also make a lovely addition to your Pesach seder.

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Prayers for Social Justice

Posted on: October 27th, 2011 by tobendlight

social_justice

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:

Global Village
Prayers for justice around the world:

Personal Responsibility

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

 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

I am a King: A Meditation for Men

Posted on: October 24th, 2011 by tobendlight

King Warrior WordleIn every man there is a king, a beautiful, wise and powerful man who sees, heals and blesses. Sadly, sometimes we become tyrants, and sometimes we abdicate our duties. This is a meditation to remind myself and other men that all of us have a deep well of spiritual gold. We are men of honor and integrity. We are kings in service to our families, our loved ones, ourselves and the world. Kings in service to the Holy One, G-d of All Being. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

I am a King: A Meditation for Men
I am a king.
Not the king.
A king.
Like all men,
Born with a seed of majesty,
A gift of the Sovereign of Heaven.
This gift is mine to nurture,
To love,
To hold sacred in service to G-d.

Rock of Truth,
Some men fear this gift,
Hate it, reject it,
Abdicating Your call to heal and create.
Some men grab this gift with zeal,
Tyrants abusing their power,
Destroying and devouring
Land and people.

Rock of Life,
Make me a king with a heart of gold,
Holding my life and the world
As precious gifts,
To honor and to cherish,
To build and to sustain.

Rock of Love,
Bless me so that I bless.
See me so that I see.
Hear me so that I hear.
Then, G-d of Old,
I will be Your servant on earth
All the days of my life.

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

Postscript: Check out these prayers for men: “My Work Remains,” “For the Lost” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs,” as well as a list of other prayers for and about men.

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: Honey Badger Heart

Against Worker Exploitation

Posted on: October 21st, 2011 by tobendlight

Farm WorkerHere’s a social justice prayer for Labor Day, Passover and May Day. It’s from a series of prayers including: “Against Poverty,” “Against Human Trafficking” and “Against Tyranny.” They follow a common format and focus on tikkun olam, repairing the world. This prayer appears in the Passover section of This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day.

Against Worker Exploitation
G-d of the laborer,
G-d of the migrant and the ensnared,
The voice of the misused echoes across the land,
Overworked and undervalued in the name of profit.
Our children,
Our brothers
And our sisters
Toil in misery,
Chained to taskmasters
By slavery, poverty or misfortune.
Bound to unbearable hours
And cruel conditions
So that few may reap the rewards
Of their suffering and endurance.

Source of abundance and grace,
Creator of affluence and wealth,
You call upon us to stand in the name of justice and fairness,
To witness against the abuse of economic power,
To battle theft by dominance and clout,
To fight corporate neglect of human beings,
To speak out against exploitation.

Bless those who dedicate their lives to the voiceless
And the forgotten
To expose greed and callousness in factory and field.
Give them courage and determination.
Bless those who plead on behalf of the oppressed and the subjugated
Before the seats of power,
Governments and corporations.
Give them wisdom and skill.
May the work of their hands never falter
Nor despair deter them from this holy calling.

Bless those in financial bondage with resources.
Release them from want.
Hasten the day of their self-sufficiency and bounty.

Blessed are You, G-d of All Being,
Who summons us to oppose oppression.

© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers For a New Day

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Postscript: Related prayers include: “Upon Losing Employment” and “For Work.”

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: Food Chain via Care 2

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

“Mesmerizing, spiritual, provocative, and thoughtful, Alden was everything you would want in a guest scholar and teacher.” – Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Congregation Kol Ami, Los Angeles, and Past President, CCAR

"Alden Solovy has become one of the most revered liturgists of the last decade…" - Jewish Post & Opinion, March 29, 2023

“Alden left everyone feeling inspired.” – Cantor Jeri Robins, Shabbat Chair, NewCAJE6