Tag Archive for "renewal" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘renewal’

The Season of Counting

Posted on: March 26th, 2013 by tobendlight

This is a meditation on counting. Counting as a spiritual practice is a reminder to stay present in the current moment, the task at hand and that we are on a journey. Beginning the second night of Passover we count the days until Shavuot. By Counting the Omer we remember the journey from the depths of slavery to the heights of G-d’s Holy Presence. This piece appears in my book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

The Season of Counting
This is the season of counting:
Of counting days and nights,
Of counting the space between slavery of the body
And freedom of the soul.

This is a season of seeing:
Of seeing earth and sky,
Of seeing renewal in the land
And renewal in our hearts.

This is a season of journey:
Of inner journeys and outer journeys
Taking us places that need us,
Places that we need.

This is the season of counting,
The season of joyous anticipation,
Of wondrous waiting,
In devotion and awe,
For our most precious gift,
The gift that binds our hearts to each other across the millennia,
The gift that binds our souls to G-d’s Holy Word.

Postscript: Here are links to prayers and meditations for each week of counting the Omer and Shavuot:

Week One: Chesed (Lovingkindness, Love, Benevolence)
Week Two: Gevurah (Discipline, Justice, Restraint, Awe)
Week Three: Tiferet (Beauty, Harmony, Compassion, Truth)
Week Four: Netzach (Eternity, Endurance, Fortitude, Ambition)
Week Five: Hod (Humility, Splendor)
Week Six: Yesod (Foundation, Bonding)
Week Seven: Malchut – Nobility, Sovereignty, Leadership)
Shavuot

Please check out my Meet the Author video 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: Jan Zabransky on logopond.com

Prayer of Gratitude

Posted on: March 20th, 2013 by tobendlight

This is another in my series of meditations for use when prayer time is brief, like waiting in line at the grocery story or when your in a car stopped at a red light. The series now includes eight prayers. This prayer will appear in my forthcoming book, which has yet to be given a title.

Prayer of Gratitude
Today is a gift,
Oh my G-d,
To know Your world,
To receive Your blessings.

Rock of Ages,
Your works surround us,
Daily signs of awe and wonder,
Daily guides to joy and service.
Bless me with hands of strength,
A heart of courage,
A mind of understanding.
Bless me with a voice of praises,
A life of gratitude,
Days filled with hope and love.

Postscript: Here’s a link to “Quick Prayer for Healing.”

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: Women of Faith

Inviting Healing

Posted on: February 11th, 2013 by tobendlight

G-d’s healing power surrounds us. Re’fuat haguf. Healing of the body. Re’fuat hanefesh. Healing of the spirit. This is a meditation on inviting healing into our lives. It’s one of 10 new pieces that I wrote after getting out of the hospital. This prayer appears in my new book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Inviting Healing
Radiance and awe.
Splendor and wonder.
The energy of being surrounds me
Flowing day-by-day
From the holy realms.

Let me invite these gifts of holiness
Into my hands,
Into my body,
Into the core of my being.

Let me invite the energy of life
Into my limbs,
Into my chest,
Into my heart.

Let me invite this well of healing
Into my breath,
Into my blood,
Into my spirit.

G-d of Old,
Healer and Guide,
You have blessed me with life,
Days of hope and yearning.
Bless me with Your healing power.
Lead me back to
A life of wholeness and peace.

Postscript: My other healing prayers include: “For Surgery,” “Upon Recovery from Surgery,” “For a Critically-Ill Child,” “For a Critically-Ill Mother,” “For a Critically Ill Father,” “For Cancer Treatment,” “Cancer Remission” and two Hospice Prayers. See also: “Quick Prayer for Healing,” “Quick Prayer for My Healing,” “Quick Prayer for Healing (Specific)”and “On Recurrent Pain.”

Please consider purchasing my 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. Also, please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing.

Photo Credit: University of Cincinnati

We Are Music

Posted on: February 6th, 2013 by tobendlight

This prayer/poem is about embodying the music of life and hearing the music created when we move in and out of moments together. It’s my second incorporating instructions to the reader into the prayer. The first is called “Invitations.” This appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

We Are Music
Quiet now.
Listen.
Breathe.
And listen.

You are music.
Your breath and hands,
Your smile and tears,
Your eyes and pulse,
Are notes that dance
In the space between us.

We are music.
A symphony conducted
By the rhythm of life,
By G-d’s hand,
By our choices, day-by-day.

Our notes play on,
Separately, together,
The sacred sound of living.
Our music waltzes,
Making melodies fresh and new,
Never heard again,
Bass lines that pulse from our hearts
To the Soul of the Universe.

Joy bends sorrow.
Sorrow bends hope.
Hope bends grief.
Grief bends love.
Love bends joy.

Quiet now.
Listen.
Breathe.
And listen.

The silence is your longing.
The silence is your yearning for a different song.
The music of your own will
Blocks your heart to the harmonies
Already dancing around you,
To the chorus already singing around you.

Oh, you hidden delight of heaven.
Oh, you secret gift of G-d.
We are music.
We are music.
The music plays
Through us.

Postscript: Please see also: “Life as a Symphony,” “Invitations,” “For the Gift of Song” and “For the Gift of Music.”

Photo Credit: Picks and Sticks Music

Quick Prayers for Healing

Posted on: January 29th, 2013 by tobendlight

Here are two adaptations of my “Quick Prayer for Healing.” The original prayer is general, asking for healing for all in need. These two are specific: one for individuals to say regarding their own healing and recovery, as well as one that names a specific third person. Note: optional lines appear in [brackets], gender choices are identified with a “/” slash and the place to insert a name is shown with a blank line. These prayers will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Quick Prayer for My Healing
G-d of love,
Cast the light of health and well-being on me [and on my family]
And all who are injured, infirm or insecure.
We yearn for Your healing hand.
Bless us with healing of body
Healing of soul
And healing of spirit.
Grant all in need a full and complete recovery.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Source of Life.

Quick Prayer for Healing (Specific)
G-d of love,
Cast the light of health and well-being on
________________ (add name in Hebrew or your native tongue),
[His/her family]
And all who are injured, infirm or insecure,
Those who yearn for Your healing hand.
Bless them with healing of body
Healing of soul
And healing of spirit.
Grant all in need a full and complete recovery.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Source of Life.

Postscript: Here’s a link to “Quick Prayer for Healing.” Others in the “Quick Prayers” series include: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.”

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: Alison Anton

For a Child’s Surgery

Posted on: January 8th, 2013 by tobendlight

This revision of “For My Child’s Surgery” appears in the new book, Mishkan R’fuah: Where Healing Resides published by the CCAR Press. I am grateful to the editors who made some important suggestions regarding the emotional content and theological implications of this prayer while remaining profoundly respectful of my work. Gender choices are identified with a “/” slash. It appears as “Before My Child’s Surgery” in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

For a Child’s Surgery
G-d of health and healing,
I surrender my daughter /son to the physician’s hand,
The surgeon’s skill,
The nurse’s care,
Placing her / his body into the cradle of others,
Just as I pray for you to hold her / his soul with Your loving hands.

Bless her / his surgeon with a steady hand,
Keen vision and a passion for healing.
Bless her / his caregivers with focus and compassion,
With wisdom and dedication.
Bless our family with comfort and kindness,
Energy and endurance, tranquility and strength.

Source of life,
Bring Your healing power to _______________ (child’s name).
Remove her / his pain,
Relieve her / his distress,
And restore her / his body, mind and spirit,
Renewing her/him to wholeness and peace.
Bless her / him with vigor, courage and hope
So that she / he may enjoy life and health,
Joy and love.
And grant her / him a full and speedy recovery.

Blessed are You, G-d of mystery,
Source health and healing.

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Postscript: “After My Child’s Surgery” also appears in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. Here’s a related prayer “For a Critically Ill Child.”

Photo Credit: CCAR Press

Shemot 5773: Finding G-d

Posted on: January 3rd, 2013 by tobendlight

“And the angel of Adonai appeared unto him in flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said: ‘I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.’ And when Adonai saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush…” – Exodus 1:2-4

What does it take to see holiness in a burning bush? What does it take to see G-d all around? This is a meditation about waking up to find G-d. This prayer echoes the theme in another piece called “Seeking G-d.”

Finding G-d
Finding G-d is
As simple as
Breathing in
The morning air,
As simple as
Seeing
The light
Around you,
As simple as
Feeling
Your heartbeat
Fill your chest.

Ah, my dear ones,
Learning to breathe, to see, to feel
The presence of holiness…
That is the secret.
That is the journey.
How quiet and still,
How open and aware,
How ready and willing must we be
To see the
Extraordinary
In the mundane?
Before we can see a
Bush in flames
That is not consumed?
Before we take off our shoes
In the light of awe and majesty?

Finding G-d is
As simple as
Breathing in mystery,
As simple as
Seeing the radiance around you,
As simple as
Feeling glory fill your limbs,
And wonder fill your chest.

Postscript: Other prayers about finding G-d include: “To Hear Your Voice,” “To Seek Your Glory,” “To Seek Your Love” and “To Know Your Word.”

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: Geabler

Mikeitz 5773: Against Hunger

Posted on: December 12th, 2012 by tobendlight

“And the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said; and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.” – Genesis 41:54

In a world of plenty, we still face hunger in wealthy nations and famine in impoverished lands. This is from my series of prayers for social justice including: “Against Poverty,” “Against Human Trafficking” and “A gainst Tyranny.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

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.

Postscript: Click here for more prayers about social justice. This prayer would also make a lovely addition to your Pesach seder. It was first posted on November 2, 2011, for Global Hunger Shabbat of the American Jewish World Service.

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 Credit: Chabad World.

Every Beginning

Posted on: December 9th, 2012 by tobendlight

Here’s prayer/poem that celebrates both love and loss as essential elements of our lives. This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Every Beginning
Every beginning brings an ending.
Every ending brings a beginning.

Ancient One,
This is the joy and the grief,
The plenty and the famine,
The dance and the dirge
Of life
Alive and awake
In Your world.

How wonderful is this living?
How glorious the light from heaven?
How stunning the radiance that surrounds you
My beloved,
Holy and new, luminous with wonder?
How marvelous this place where earth and sky touch?

How strange is this dying?
How melancholy that one day we will
No longer hear sweet voices,
See sweet faces,
Share whispers and secrets,
Laughter and heartbreak?
How much more, my darlings,
Should we love today?
How much more, my children,
Should we savor and rejoice?

Every beginning brings an ending.
Every ending brings a beginning.
Blessed is G-d’s Holy Name.

Postscript: Here are two of my favorite prayers about the spiritual journey: “Messengers” and “On the Trail.” Click here for more meditations in the voice of the Spiritual Traveler.

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 Credit: Hasseblad

Lamps Within

Posted on: December 6th, 2012 by tobendlight

This is a new meditation for Hanukkah about bringing the light we carry inside of ourselves into the world and lighting the lamps of awe and wonder in our children. This meditation appears in my CCAR Press book, “This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day.” My friend Rabbi Karol wrote this beautiful melody for this prayer.

Lamps Within
A lamp glows inside your heart,
With eight ways to light it,
Eight ways to keep it shining,
Eight ways to keep its glow.

Light it with your joy.
Light it with your tears.
Light it with this song.
Light it with the works of your hands.
Light it with hope.
Light it with service.
Light it with this prayer.
Light it with praise to G-d’s Holy Name.

Bring the lamp of your soul out into the street
So that all who have forgotten
The miracles around us
Will remember the beauty within,
So that all who have forgotten
The miracles of old
Will remember to rejoice.

A lamp glows inside your children.
Keep it shining.
Watch it glow.

Light it with your joy.
Light it with your tears.
Light it with song.
Light it with the works of your hands.
Light it with hope.
Light it with service.
Light it with prayer.
Light it with praise to G-d’s Holy Name.

Postscript: Here’s a link to another Hanukkah meditation, “The Season of Dedication.”

Photo Source: Garden Delights Arts and Crafts

Posts Tagged ‘renewal’

The Season of Counting

Prayer of Gratitude

Inviting Healing

We Are Music

Quick Prayers for Healing

For a Child’s Surgery

Shemot 5773: Finding G-d

Every Beginning

Lamps Within

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