Moments of Gevurah

 

Every time I step out of mundane time

To be present to what I’m actually doing

Instead of dwelling on what I’ve done before 

Or what I might do next

Or what has or will be done to me or around me,

No matter how content, miserable or stimulated I am,

Every time I am fully inside the depth of a feeling

That is truly of now,

Aware in compassion, truth and presence, then 

I am raised from the dead.  

This is my only super power,

These occasional moments of Holy Wholeness 

Scattered amongst the usual blah

Until I die

And there will be no raising me then,

I’m pretty sure. 

A Rosh Hashana Amidah

I open my mouth, I open my heart.

I speak praise, hope and thanks.

I speak the Ancient Prayer:

PRAISE OUR ANCESTORS

God of my childhood faith, of my adult skepticism

God of the mystics, of the philosophers

God of our ancestors, of our children

God of this community, and of mine, only

God who knew my parents, God who knows my death

Blessed Ain Sof, what WAS before IS, and WHAT WILL BE when THIS is no more.

PRAISE GOD’S POWER

God of my strength and of my weakness,

God of my current understanding and my lack thereof,

Incline your metaphorical ear

And open your metaphorical eye.

Rambam says, 

If you can’t imagine God then you don’t exist.

There is no thing that is not God.

God is no thing.

Wow.

Blessed be God, bringing us the Wow.

PLACE YOURSELF in front of the fear. 

You will be judged, you will die.

Place yourself in the center of the universe

You earned that spot simply by existing.

Place yourself under obligation to God

However you understand or don’t understand God.

Place yourself in the path of holiness and joy and truth.

Bless Ruach HaOlam, the breath of mindfulness.

REMEMBER  

Remember what you did wrong

Remember what you did right.

Remember those who came before you.

Remember that you are responsible for those who come after you.

Remember your history.

Remember Torah.

Blessed be El, remembering us.

DECLARE YOURSELF

Because the truly evil are already condemned

The truly good are already blessed

And then, there’s the rest of us.

It is said that on Rosh Hashanah God decides your fate: life or death.

And the ten days until Yom Kippur are your opportunity to change God’s mind.

So don’t blow it.

This is a powerful day, a fantastic opportunity!

Declare yourself for holiness and joy and truth.

Bless Shechina, seeing how hard we are trying.

NOW WE DECLARE

And as a congregation, we proclaim:

Let the holiness rise up!

On Rosh Hashanah it is written

On Yom Kippur it is sealed.

And let us declare together:

We understand nothing.

All that is physical, ends.

We die.

But not today.

Except sometimes, today.

We fret about the past and worry about the future

And forget to live with where we are now.

And then we die.

We understand nothing.

But  

Teshuvah, Tefilah & Tzedukah 

Restore us to our place.

Teshuvah, when we return to our true selves;

Tefillah, when we stop time in holy conversation;

Tzedukah, when we transcend self;

And that’s when God decrees.

Bless the Presence, remembering when we have forgotten.

THE DAY IS HOLY

Listen to the Shofar as it announces:

Awesome and sacred is this sweet day!

The world is filled with the Divine, we are surrounded!

Hear us, know us.

Love us, enjoy us.

Remember us, rouse us.

Forgive us, inspire us, 

Bless Elohim, the Creator, the Created, Creating. 

SANCTIFY GOD’S NAME, so many holy names:

HaMavdeel, the Divider of Time;

Adonai, the Uniter Of All Existence;

Ain Sof, That Which Cannot Be Known;

Ruach HaOlam, The Breath That Animates;

Shechina, the Presence of Eternity;

Elohim, God of our Past

Yah, God of our future;

HaMakom, The Place, God of our present.

My the holiness be eternal

Let me look from side to side, to see all these possibilities,

The names help me comprehend

That which cannot be comprehended.

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Blessed be Achat/Echad, the One-ness, with so many names.

HEAR OUR PRAYERS,

That which Was, That which Is, That which Will Be.

We imagine you. We’re listening. Do you hear us?

We are in this glorious and troubled place and we take responsibility for how it turns out.

Blessed Yah, May the World To Come be the world we live in.

WE ARE SO THANKFUL. 

Ah, the sweetness of life, savor the taste.

Life can be so good, can’t it?

And right now it is fine.

Feed it with challah and honey,

Irrigate and watch it grow.

Who cares which book we’re inscribed in?

This moment is so great.

I am so thankful for the beautiful weather, 

the glorious music, the fine words, 

the sweet meals, the warm home,

the good friends, the silly toys

the sexual pleasures, the profound thoughts,

the crazy family, the big laughs,

and the loving.

Blessed  HaMakom, giving us today, which is so beautiful.

WE PRAY FOR WHOLENESS.

Bless us with love and mercy over us and all Israel and all the world.

Bless us with transcendence from the Light That Illuminates

Bless us with pleasure in the Awesome Connection

Adonai Echad, Bless us and keep everyone safe.  Grant us peace and wholeness that we may have decent and happy lives.

RUACH HA OLAM, Eternal Breath,

Incomprehensible. And really, so simple.

May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be joyful truth.

May the good things I pray for happen and, if not, 

May I never forget to hope.  AMEN

A Weekday Amidah

I open my mouth, I open my heart.
I speak praise, hope and thanks.
I speak the Ancient Prayer:

1. Praise our Ancestors!
God of my childhood faith, of my adult skepticism
God of the mystics, of the philosophers
God of our ancestors, of our children
God of my strength and of my weakness
God of this community, and of mine alone
God of my current understanding and my lack thereof
God who knew my parents, God who knows my death
Blessed be Ain Sof, that which was here before IS, and that which will be here afterwards.

2. Praise God’s Power!
Incline your metaphorical ear
Open your metaphorical eye
Rambam says,
If you can’t imagine God then you don’t exist.
Blessed be God who brings us the Wow.

3. Sanctify God’s Name!
Blessed HaMavdeel, the Divider of Time;
Blessed Adonai Echad, the Uniter Of All Existence;
Blessed Ain Sof, That Which Cannot Be Known;
Blessed Ruach HaOlam, The Breath That Animates;
Blessed Shechina, the Presence of Eternity;
Blessed Elohim, God of our Past, Blessed Yah, God of our future;
Blessed HaMakom, God of our present.

Look from side to side, to see all these possibilities,
Holy, Holy, Holy
But there is only One.
Blessed be Echad, with so many names.

4. I ask for Knowledge.
I pray that I may continue to have so many questions
And give thanks for my teachers and hevruta for the answers
Which I will then question.
Blessed HaMavdil Bein Kodesh L’Khol, who is so interesting.

5. I ask for Repentance.
Someone asked, what were you thinking? I don't know.
I was hurt, I was angry, I was scared.
I’m not making excuses, I know what I did.
But it is good to be understood. I am so sorry.
Blessed be God, who is so patient.

6. I ask for Forgiveness.
The truly evil are already condemned
The truly good are already blessed
And the rest of us, most of us,
Hope for mercy and a little leeway.
I will do better.
Blessed is the Presence that does not hold a grudge.

7. We ask for Redemption.
We pray that we have no enemies.
But if we must have enemies, we pray that we may find a way to live in peace.
If we cannot live in peace, we ask for safety.
If we cannot be safe, then we ask to be saved from annihilation.
If most of us are killed, we pray that some of us will be able to run away to start again.
Bless the Redeemer, who has compassion for all who are in pain or who cause pain.

8. We ask for Healing.
We pray for the compassion to comfort and care,
the anger to keep going,
the clarity to see what must be done,
the acceptance of love from all sources,
the brains to get help,
and the strength to accept the truth.
Bless the Source of Life, that we may be healed, in our souls if not always in our bodies.

9. We pray for the Earth, our home and all that it gives us.
We pray for the rain and the dirt and the seeds.
We pray to be proper caretakers of this earth and all who live upon it.
We pray that all who are hungry will have to eat.
We honor the chain of work that brought us bread, from the farmer to the picker and the miller and the baker, to the trucker and the store owner and the shopper.
Bless the Creation, that which brings us the means to make our food that we may eat together.

10. We ask for the gathering of the exiled.
Sound a shofar, listen!
Gather the lost and homeless:
The Ivrit fleeing Mitzraim, the Ladinos exiled from Spain;
The refugees of Darfur, the Europeans who crossed to America in steerage;
The Cherokee on the Trail of Tears, the ethnically cleansed of Serbia;
The Oleh who ran from Nazis and Soviets to Israel, the Palestinians walled off from their farms.
Bless El, who gathers the dispersed and sometimes takes them home.

11. We ask for the rule of Law
Help us refuse to participate in wrongdoing
Help us act when we see someone else in danger, whether we know them or not.
Help us free ourselves from violence and recover when we cannot.
Protect us from police states and dictatorships.
Make sure our judges are impartial and our laws makes sense.
Bless The One Who Judges and Writes in the Book of Life, seeing us as we truly are.

12. We ask for tolerance and perception.
All division is false,
All superiority is delusion,
All separation is temporary.
Blessed Adonai Echad, the Uniter Of All Existence.

13. We ask for righteousness.
May we pray in mindfulness and not by rote.
May our actions match our ethics.
May we not oppress or bore others who do not believe or practice as we do.
Bless God Who Has Given Us Our Minds that we may use them to think for ourselves. May we all be Jews By Choice.

14. We ask for Jerusalem.
Have mercy on Israel and Palestine’s people.
May they all be able to see themselves clearly
And may they find themselves able to act ethically.
Please keep them safe from physical harm
And please, if at all possible, keep them sane.
As we have always aspired to return to Jerusalem,
May those who live there aspire to live in harmony and justice with their neighbors.
Bless Yud Hey Vuv Hey, the God of Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, Isaac, Rebecca, Esau, Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, Bilhah, Moses, Zipporah, Naomi, Boaz and Ruth.

15. We ask for salvation.
May the World To Come be the world we live in.
Bless HaMakom, we are in this glorious and troubled place and we take responsibility for how it turns out.

16. Hear Our Prayers
That which Was, That which Is, That which Will Be.
I imagine you. I’m listening. Do you hear me?
Blessed Adonai Elohim. Sh’ma.

17. We are thankful for our opportunities to serve.
For the eyes to see the suffering,
For the minds and body to take action,
For the liturgy that still speaks to us,
For the prayers we create now,
We are thankful.
And please, no need to rebuild the Temple:
God is everywhere.
Bless the Shechinah, the Presence that never leaves.

18.We are so thankful.
Ah, the sweetness of life, savor the taste.
Life can be so good, can’t it?
And right now it is fine.
Feed it with bread and honey,
Irrigate and watch it grow.
Who cares which book we’re inscribed in?
This moment is so great.
I am so thankful for the beautiful weather,
the glorious music, the fine words, the embracing community
the sweet meals, the warm home,
the good friends, the silly toys, the spiritual seaches,
the sexual pleasures, the profound thoughts,
the crazy family, the big laughs,
and the loving.
Blessed Ruach HaOlam who gives us today, which is so beautiful.

19. We pray for peace.
May the Eternal bless us and keep everyone.
Let us have some inkling of the Holy Connection
And grant us wholeness and peace.

Blessed Ain Sof, encompassing all existence,
Incomprehensible. Simple.
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be truth.
May the good things I pray for happen and, if not,
May I never forget to hope.

Amen