Tag Archive for "renewal" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘renewal’

For the Gift of Laughter

Posted on: June 15th, 2010 by tobendlight

Being funny is a gift, a talent, a craft and hard work. Here’s another prayer for the artists who grace our lives, a prayer for the gift of laughter. It follows the same structure in my series of creativity prayers. And it was fun to write. It was fun to use words not typically found in prayers…like “guffaw” and “chuckle.” Even so, it turns out to be a serious prayer about laughter and humor. Don’t be fooled. This is, in truth, a prayer for healing. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Addendum, Aug. 12, 2014: In Memoriam, Robin Williams, July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014

For the Gift of Laughter
G-d, we give thanks for the gift of laughter
For chuckles and guffaws,
For giggles and grins,
For silliness, goofiness
And roll on the floor hysterics.
Hear this prayer for those whose
Wit and wisdom enliven and enlighten our lives.
Let heaven pour enthusiasm and inspiration through them,
So that our lives overflow with celebration.
So that when we laugh our souls turn back to You
In wholeness and thanksgiving.
Together, we offer our renewal back to heaven,
And rejoice.

Postscript: Be sure to check out the other prayers in this series: “For the Gift of Song,” “For the Gift of Words,” “For the Gift of Dance,” “For the Gift of Art,” “For the Gift of Music,” “For the Gift of Torah Scholarship” and “For the Joy of Learning.” The introduction to “For the Gift of Song” explains the common format for these prayers.

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Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

A Moment of Blessing

Posted on: June 13th, 2010 by tobendlight

Right here, right now, at this very moment, blessings abound. This prayer is about seeing the blessings in our lives.

A Moment of Blessing
Every breath and every blink,
Every moment and every heartbeat:
Each one, a blessing.
This is a moment of blessing.
Blessings given. Blessings received.

Every trail and every vista,
Every journey and every homecoming:
Each one, an adventure.
This is a moment of adventure.
Adventures alone. Adventures together.

Every sunrise and every sunset,
Every crash of thunder and every roar of the sea:
Each one, a moment of majesty.
This is a moment of majesty.
Majesty from heaven. Majesty on earth.

Every birth and every death,
Every love and every loss:
Each one, a mystery.
This is a moment of mystery.
Mysteries hidden. Mysteries revealed.

Blessed are you, Adonai our G-d,
G-d of blessings, G-d of adventures,
G-d of majesty and G-d of mystery,
You fill our days with Your glory
And our lives with precious gifts.
Praised are You, Source of love.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 15th day of the Omer, Lovingkindness in Compassion. See also, “Garden of Blessings” and “This Moment.”

Please check out my ELItalk “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: My Jewish Detroit

Chava bat Chana

Posted on: June 10th, 2010 by tobendlight

I like to belt it out in song. The Kahal Shabbat service at Beth Emet: The Free Synagogue bursts with energy and joy. It’s perfect for me. Then, one Shabbat, it struck me that I could also pray by listening. This story is the result of that lovely Sabbath in which I let my song be sung — and my prayers prayed — by this wonderful community, by listening to the prayer. I still belt it out most of the time. Once in awhile, I pray with my ears instead. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Chava bat Chana
Chava bat Chana doesn’t pray like you or me. We sing. We chant. We lift our voices to G-d Most High, but Chava doesn’t utter a single word. She sits in the back of the synagogue, her arms resting gently in her lap. She takes a deep breath, then another. Her eyes close, her pulse slows, her mind empties until everything that makes her Chava bat Chana is still and quiet and ready. She listens to the one voice woven of the many. Yitzchack, who’s just buried his wife. Deborah, who’s ready to give birth. Chaim, who’s destined to become a rabbi. And Miriam, who lost a leg to illness. And Chava hears it all. Grief and joy. Pride and fear. The one voice woven of the many. And tears, tears well up from heaven into Chava’s heart.
Chava bat Chana doesn’t pray like you or me. She prays the secret prayer of our mothers, and their mothers and their mothers before them.

Life as a Ceremony

Posted on: June 1st, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is about living a life of wonder, reverence and awe. To live life as a cermony takes commitment and focus, a unique spiritual endurance. The prayer comes from a series of prayers that i) begin by summoning introspection as the doorway to ii) the vision of life as a glorious gift driving toward iii) a commitment to service to others and to G-d. The series includes: “Life as a Symphony,” “Life as a Garden” and “Life as a Banquet.” All of these prayers appear in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The entire text follows.

Life as a Ceremony
G-d of the past,
Source of the present,
Creator of the future,
Divine light of compassion and hope,
My time is fleeting.
My days are numbered.
The course of my life unknown.
Where I am and where I’ll be a mystery.

Heavenly hand of justice and mercy,
Keeper of secret truths,
You who give purpose and meaning to all things,
Grant me the grace and vision to live my life as a ceremony,
As a river of sacred moments that command my care,
That I honor with love and respect.
Give me the wisdom to see the spark,
The splendor and the spirit around me
And to choose the path of enthusiasm, energy, gentleness and peace.

You who know all things,
Guide me with Your wisdom,
Teach me Your laws,
Show me Your ways,
So that I live a life of joy and holiness,
Treating everyone and everything with dignity and honor,
In service to Your creation.

Blessed are You, G-d of all,
Source of life and love, abundance and peace.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 13th day of the Omer. This series also includes: “Life as a Symphony,” “Life as a Garden” and “Life as a Banquet.” All of these prayers will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Credit: I See Japan…From L.A.

For Sharing Divine Gifts

Posted on: May 30th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is the third in a series of prayers that call on us to transform suffering into beauty. The two others are: “Regarding Old Wounds” and “For Healing the Spirit.” They each: i) begin with a prophetic tone calling for self refection; ii) move to personal affirmation; iii) offer the core prayer and iv) close with a “chatimah” or “seal” to reinforce the theme, the classic ending of a Jewish prayer. This prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Sharing Divine Gifts
Daughter of man,
Son of woman,
People of divine light:
What do you do with your gifts?
How do you use your radiance
And your might?
Your intellect and your passion?
Do you leave them buried within,
Untouched and unused?
Do you pursue justice and healing,
Charity and consolation?
Men of honor and purpose,
Women of integrity and strength:
Cast off your idle ways.
Banish your selfish pursuits.
Exile your vain hopes.
There is joy in every kindness,
Blessing and salvation in every gift of the heart.

Come you children of G-d,
You witnesses of wonder and awe,
There are miracles inside you,
Holy gifts of communion and grace
That yearn to burst forth in celebration of G-d’s holy name.
Answer the call to Divine service.
Then, your lives will become a blessing,
A well a love,
A source of splendor,
Abundant in joy and courage.

Blessed are You, Source of miraculous gifts,
You rejoice in deeds of the heart.

Postscript: Although all three of the prayers in this series can be said at any time of the year, they have particular relevance during the Hebrew month of Elul. I’ve also selected this prayer for use during week seven of Counting the Omer.

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: About.com Go Hawaii

For Joy

Posted on: May 16th, 2010 by tobendlight

How do we find joy in the face of crushing loss…or even the minor mishaps of daily living? Perhaps the secret is to ask G-d for help. Or, perhaps, in spite of our losses, we make the nearly impossible effort to set aside our troubles anyway, to listen for the beauty that surrounds us and then by attempting to be of service to others. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Joy
Listen with your eyes
And hear with your heart:
In every grief, there is blessing…
In every joy, there is hope…
In every love, thanksgiving…
In every thought, wisdom…
In every breath, renewal…
In every moment, a choice,
To stay bent in sorrow,
Or to lift ourselves in songs of praise
To G-d Most High.
To dance with Miriam.
To dream with Jacob.
To laugh with Sarah.
To greet angels with Abraham.
To argue with heaven on behalf of earth.

G-d of the seen and unseen,
Creator of light and darkness
Author of justice and mercy,
Give us the courage and strength to choose a life of service,
Guided by Your loving hand.
A life of song and dance,
Gentleness and peace,
Honor and grace,
Kindness and understanding.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, You love joy and service.
.בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹקֵינוּ, אוֹהֵב שִׂמְחָה וְשָׂמֵחַ בְּתִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu, oheiv simchah v’samei’ach b’tikun ha’olam.

Postscript: Here’s a related prayer called “Let Joy.”

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: Bigmouthery

On Making a Mistake

Posted on: April 25th, 2010 by tobendlight

Like the Jewish prayers said upon eating bread or lighting Sabbath candles, this is to be said upon making a mistake. This isn’t just about forgiveness. It’s about finding the holiness, the healing and the beauty in the moments after making a mistake. It’s about elevating a mistake into an act of wisdom, charity and love. This prayer can be used as a meditation during the Hebrew month of Elul. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

On Making a Mistake
G-d of realms above and realms below,
Of justice and mercy,
Grant me the understanding that my mistakes
Are teachers and guides,
Pointing me in the direction of my best self,
Leading me toward a path of righteousness,
A path of charity,
A path of love.

Redeemer of Israel,
Bless my mistakes with the power to teach.
Remove the potential for harm.
Give me the strength and wisdom to amend my ways,
To seek forgiveness and live by my ideals
Guided by Your word.

Blessed are You, who reveals the path of righteousness.

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: Daily Positive Quotes

Regarding Old Wounds

Posted on: April 18th, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is about the spiritual path, recognizing that it requires a sense of purpose and joy, of love and humility. Why? Because healing can be painful. Much like surgery, it’s often necessary for me to receive my wounds in order to grow. Then I have a profound choice, to live wounded or to let these wounds heal and live from a place of wonder and awe. I use this prayer in week four of Counting the Omer, chesed b’netzach.

Regarding Old Wounds
Daughter of man,
Son of woman,
Children of compassion and sacred secrets:
Your wounds are deep,
Your losses crushing,
Knife on flesh,
Hammer on bone,
Burning your heart and searing your eyes.
Why do you invite them back
To chastise your days
And torture your nights?
Why do you love these old wounds,
Holding them so dear?

Son of celebration,
Daughter of ecstasy:
Cast off your doubts,
Banish your fears,
Exile the pain of time beyond your reach.
There is beauty in your past,
Wonder in your future,
And holiness in each new moment of life.

Come you children of G-d,
You witnesses of suffering and grace,
Lift your heads from your hands,
Raise your voices in song,
Lift your lives in service,
And rekindle the light of compassion and love.
Then, your lives will become a blessing,
A well of hope,
A river of consolation,
A fountain of peace.

Blessed are You, G-d of forgiveness,
You renew our lives with purpose.

Postscript: This piece was part of a collaboration with Lin Batsheva Kahn of the Tikvah Company of Artists and Desiree Miller of the Chicago Civic Orchestra called “Three Prayers,” using my words, original choreography and dance by Lin and original cello music by Desiree. “Three Prayers” premiered in Jerusalem in June 2014 as part of an evening of dance and poetry by Miriam Engel’s Angela Dance Company. This prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Credit: Neshama נשמה Nicole Raisin Stern

For Peace in the Middle East

Posted on: April 14th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is a prayer about remembering. Yes, it is a prayer for peace, but it is about remembering. What have we forgotten? Jews and Muslims, Palestinians and Israelis, share a common lineage. We are brothers and sisters. Click on the triangle in the bar below to listen while you read. The text follows. For more prayers about Israel — including “Israel: A Meditation” and “When Peace Comes” — please click here. This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

For Peace in the Middle East
Sons of Abraham,
Sons of Hagar and Sarah,
Of Isaac and Ishmael:
Have you forgotten the day we buried our father?
Have you forgotten the day we carried his dead body into the cave near Hebron?
Have you forgotten the day we entered the darkness of Machpaelah
To lay our Patriarch to rest?

Sons of Esau and Jacob:
Have you forgotten the day we made peace?
The day we set aside past injustices and deep wounds to lay down our weapons and live?
Or the day we, too, buried our father? Have you forgotten that we took Isaac’s corpse into that humble cave
To place him with his father for eternity?

Brother, I don’t remember crying with you.
Sister, I don’t remember mourning with you.
We should have cried the tears of generations.
We should have cried the tears of centuries,
The tears of fatherless sons
And motherless daughters,
So that we would remember in our flesh that we are one people,
From one father on earth and one Creator in heaven,
Divided only by time and history.

One G-d,
My brother calls you Allah.
My sister calls you Adonai.
You speak to some through Moses.
You speak to some through Mohammed.
We are one family, cousins and kin.

Holy One,
Light of truth,
Source of wisdom and strength,
In the name of our fathers and mothers,
In the name of justice and peace,
Help us to remember our history,
To mourn our losses together,
So that we may,
Once more,
Lay down our weapons and live.

G-d of All Being,
Bring peace and justice to the land,
And joy to our hearts.

Postscript: The repetition in this prayer is deliberate–asking “have you forgotten?”–and calling on readers to “remember.” Another deliberate repetition: the use of the words “peace” and “justice,” which resonate for all sides of the conflict. This was originally posted for Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, and Yom HaAtzma’ut, Israeli Independence Day, April 19 and 20, 2010. Could there be a better way to honor fallen soldiers — or to celebrate independence — than to make peace? Special thanks to Rabbi Peter Knobel for his guidance. For more prayers about Israel and prayers for peace, please click here.

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.

To Hear Your Voice

Posted on: April 1st, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer starts with yearning hear G-d’s message, the desire to understand G-d’s will and the humility to seek G-d’s counsel. It ends with the affirmation that G-d’s voice is available to all who listen. This prayer is from a series of prayers that includes: “To Seek Your Glory” and “To Know Your Word.” I use this prayer on the 31st day of the counting of the Omer, Compassion in Humility. This prayer poem appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

To Hear Your Voice
Divine Voice of reason and love,
Of compassion and understanding:
Speak gently and clearly so that I may know Your will.
Give me the patience to listen and the desire to seek
Your counsel and instruction.
Grant me the understanding to hear Your teachings in every voice,
From all people,
In every moment of need.
Open my heart to others,
To their suffering,
To their call for help.
Open my heart to love and laughter,
Song and dance,
Beauty and grace,
So that I remember to celebrate Your gifts day by day.

Divine Creator of spirit and light,
Teach me to hold my joys and sorrows gently in my hands
And to honor them both.
Teach me to be present to all that I see and all that I feel,
In truth, without fear.
Teach me to be present for others,
In humble service.

Blessed are You,
Teacher and Guide,
You make Your wisdom known to those who ask
And those who listen, willingly and patiently,
To the voices of Your creation.

Blessed are You, Your Voice resounds throughout creation.

Postscript: Here are three related prayers: “Prayers of My Heart,” “Whispered Prayer” and “Prayer for You, Prayer for Me.” Please check out my book, This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings.

Photo Credit: Nemoy Fine Arts

Posts Tagged ‘renewal’

For the Gift of Laughter

A Moment of Blessing

Chava bat Chana

Life as a Ceremony

For Sharing Divine Gifts

For Joy

On Making a Mistake

Regarding Old Wounds

For Peace in the Middle East

To Hear Your Voice

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