Tag Archive for "spirit" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘spirit’

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.

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Remember

Posted on: September 15th, 2010 by tobendlight

This meditation resonates with poetry and prayer, summoning the voices of the prophet and the spiritual traveler, calling us back to our deepest sense of peace and well being. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Remember
When the thunder crashes,
When the winds howl,
Remember
That your heart,
Once a desert,
No longer thirsts.

When darkness falls,
Without moon or stars,
Remember
That your mind,
Once lost,
No longer wanders.

When the storm rages,
When lightning strikes at your feet,
Remember
That your spirit,
Once frightened,
No longer hides.

When the road fades,
And the journey ends,
Remember
That your soul,
Once apart,
Returns home.

Postscript: The last stanza reflects the journey of Yom Kippur: to look back at life as if it was the day of death, with both unwavering honesty and abiding compassion. “Near the End: A Meditation” has a similar theme. If you liked this piece, try “Come Walk,” another poem/prayer in the voice of the spiritual traveler. Click here for the full list of prayers for the Yamim Noraim, the High Holy Days, including brief descriptions and links to each.

Photo Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library

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.”

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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.”

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Photo Source: Taste With the Eyes

Come Walk

Posted on: August 26th, 2010 by tobendlight

The spiritual journey requires humility to see with new eyes and willingness to listen with a new heart for the beautifully possible impossibilities that are all around us. I use this in week five of counting the Omer.

Come Walk
I know a man who lives in a rainbow.
I’ve heard the poet who lives on the moon.
I’ve heard the secret that sings all around you.
I know a man who can teach you the tune.

Hear the music among the lilies
And whispers in the blades of grass.
Hear the thunder beneath the ocean.
Feel the love that will always last.

Come walk the sacred sunshine.
Come walk the Milky Way.
Walk gently through the heavens.
Walk gently through each day.

Put your head upon my shoulder
And your hand upon my chest.
Put your hope above your sorrow.
Give yourself a time to rest.

I know a man who sings from the mountains,
And another who sings from the seas.
I’ve heard the man who sings from his glory,
And the man who sings on his knees.

Come walk between the layers of clouds.
Come walk the spirals of stars.
Walk gently through joy and sorrow.
Walk gently, walk holy, walk far.

Postscript: Here are more prayer/poems from the spiritual traveler: “All is Well,” “River,” “Bird is Bird” and “About the Rainbow.” Thank you to Ira Scott Levin, Julia Bordenaro Levin, and Tracy Friend. Their music helped me find this voice. Thanks also to Ros Roucher for her comments on earlier drafts.

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: Salt Lake Tribune

My Heart Knows What it Needs

Posted on: August 22nd, 2010 by tobendlight

This is another in my series of prayers and meditations for men. With a single tweak it could become gender neutral. That’s not my intent. I speak here to other men about my needs as a man, inviting them to take the risk that our society suppresses, opening our hearts to each other by expressing deep, abiding, brotherly love.

My Heart Knows What it Needs
A quiet place.
A calm, gentle space.
Stillness.
Peace.
My heart knows
What it needs.
To speak freely,
Honestly,
Openly to you my brother.
And to itself.
Safety. Acceptance. Strength.
A moment,
Just a moment
To loose the chains of
Anger and fear,
Guilt and shame,
And open the gates
Of love and surrender.

Come,
Adventure into the night of a thousand stars,
The day of radiant light.
They shine from heart to heart,
Beyond our sight,
Beyond the length of our days.

My heart knows what it needs.
To be heard.
Welcomed.
Accepted.
Protected.
To be given its voice,
And to return its power.
To be nourished.
To be healed.
To be whole.

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

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To Do Your Will

Posted on: July 26th, 2010 by tobendlight

Since G-d already has given us Abraham and Sarah, Moshe and Miriam, what can I bring to our people in Divine service? Simply this: to ask for the guidance to do G-d’s will in humility and love. This prayer has particular relevance during the month of Elul, as well as week four of the Counting the Omer. See also “For Humility.” This prayer poem appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

To Do Your Will
G-d who made Abraham and Sarah,
Moses and Miriam,
G-d who made scholars and leaders,
The wise and the heroic,
What is my place and my purpose?
What is Your will for this man / woman who stands ready,
In awe of Your radiance and light?

G-d whose voice echoes though time,
Whose blessings flow through our lives,
What is my role and my requirement?
How shall I serve Your glorious and holy name?

This is my longing and my desire:
To do Your will in humility and love.
To hear and to teach.
To see and to bless,
To hold and to honor.
To witness and to wonder.

G-d of generations,
Source of holiness and purpose,
Reveal the mystery of my life,
Open the gates of my heart,
And fill the well of my being
With vigor and delight.
Then my life will stand in tribute to divine justice and mercy,
To the wonder of creation,
To the honor and dedication of our people.

Blessed is the One, Source of truth,
Who reveals meaning and purpose in our daily lives.

Postscript: I have selected this prayer for week four of Counting the Omer, as well as one of my prayers during Elul.

Photo Credit: USDA NRSA Photo Gallery

The Season of Healing

Posted on: July 21st, 2010 by tobendlight

The Days of Awe are a time for introspection and self-assessment in anticipation of repentance, forgiveness, thanksgiving and rejoicing. This rhythm binds who we are now to who we will become. It frees us from everything that holds us back. It is a season of healing. This piece appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

The Season of Healing
This is the season of healing:
Of healing our hearts and minds,
Of healing the moments we share with each other
And the moments we share with ourselves.

This is the season of memory:
Of remembering our parents and grandparents,
The love of generations,
The holiness of our ancestors.

This is the season of stillness,
The season of silence and quiet:
Of deep breaths,
Of open eyes,
Of compassion and consolation.

This is the season of healing:
The season of grief turning to wonder,
Of loss turning toward hope,
The season that binds this year to the next,
The season that frees this year from the next,
The season that heralds the redemption of spirit
And our return to God’s Holy Word.

Postscript: This piece appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. Here’s a link to other prayers for the Yamim Noraim, the High Holy Days.

Photo Source: TzfatKabbalah.org

Life as a Symphony

Posted on: July 5th, 2010 by tobendlight

Compassion gains an element of nobility when developed as a spiritual practice. This prayer is about living a reverent and compassionate life. It’s from a set of prayers including “Life as a Garden,” “Life as a Banquet” and “Life as a Ceremony.” Each calls for the introspection to see life as a glorious gift. They appear in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Life as a Symphony
G-d of ancient secrets,
Source of life,
Creator of beauty,
Divine light of sacred truth,
My strength has its limits,
My power its purpose,
The energy of life flowing from a secret well beyond my reach
And beyond my imagination.
What I find and what finds me are a mystery and a miracle.

Heavenly hand of radiance and hope,
Author of all being,
Grant me the wisdom and understanding to live my life as a symphony,
A river of majestic music that blesses and sustains life
With holiness and love,
That I repay with kindness and charity.
Give me the passion and the patience to hear the rhythms of Your glorious creation.

You who bring beauty and song,
Guide me with Your power,
Teach me with Your kindness,
Show me the reverence for Your secret truths,
So that I live a life of joy and celebration,
With gratitude for Your creation.

Blessed are You, G-d of salvation and splendor,
Creation sings Your praise.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 21th day of counting the Omer: “Nobility in Compassion.”

Photo Credit: UNCW Randall Library

An Amazing Life

Posted on: June 29th, 2010 by tobendlight

What makes life amazing? Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, darkness and light. And the choice to embrace life with a sense of awe and wonder no matter what. This piece appears in my new book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The entire text follows.

An Amazing Life
This is an amazing life,
A gift of moments
Precious and dear,
Profound in joy.
Profound in sorrow.

This is an amazing life,
A gift of moments
Glorious and holy,
Rich in laughter,
Rich with tears.

This is an amazing life,
A gift beyond imagination,
Fantastic stories of solitude and adventure,
Tales of darkness and light,
Psalms of frailty and endurance,
Poetry written in time and motion,
In stillness and silence,
In shouts and whispers,
In mourning and wondrous celebration.
This is an amazing life,
A river of blessings,
A gift to cherish
In awe and wonder.

Blessed are the gifts of life.
Blessed is the Giver of life.
Blessed is this amazing life.

Postscript: Here is a link to prayers of and for Thanksgiving.

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 Source: WikiMedia Commons

Posts Tagged ‘spirit’

Rejoice!

Remember

Upon Recovery From Surgery

Life as a Banquet

Come Walk

My Heart Knows What it Needs

To Do Your Will

The Season of Healing

Life as a Symphony

An Amazing Life

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