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38.
Psalm 27 (2nd to last verse) Rabbi Yael Levy points to the 2nd to last stanza of Psalm 27 and elaborates well. The stanza goes: If I only had the faith to see the goodness of the unfolding mystery in the lands of life.
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37. Life to the dead
Life to the dead A Hasidic master taught: There are parts of ourselves that have become deadened. When we pray this blessing we should ask ourselves, "What part of myself needs to be awakened? What should I be concerned with, that I have forgotten?" 36. Tzamah Nafshi
All was created with divine wisdom, with purpose and understanding none can fathom, for these are hidden from the eyes of all that lives. My body and soul would sing to the living God. Excerpt (translation) .
35 Adom Olam (Jewish song....yes part of rituals and also seeing God as an entity...I don't have a problem with this..and I think it's powerful. Many heard this mechanically when young. Now as free people worth another look.) Before creation shaped the world, eternally God reigned alone; but only with creation done could God as Sovereign be known. When all is ended, God alone will reign in wondrous majesty. God was, God is, always will be glorious in eternity. God is unique and without peer, with none at all to be compared. Without beginning, endlessly, God's vast dominion is not shared. But still—my God, my only hope, my only true refuge in distress, My shelter sure, my cup of life, with goodness real and limitless. I place my spirit in God's care; my body too can feel God near. When I sleep, as when I wake, God is with me, I have no fear. 34.
(for those who have prayed formally, or with their own personal prayers) Focusing on Prayer (Our prayers have spiritual meaning even when—or perhaps especially when—our mind wanders.) Once the Baal Shem Tov was asked: “ If you realize that you have not focused on the prayer that you have just recited, should you go back and recite the prayer again—this time with proper intention?” He responded: “Is not God present in all things? In some way, God must have been present in the previous moment when your mind wandered; now, were you to go back and recite the prayer again, you would deny the presence of God in that original moment.” 33.
(A Jewish thinker brought up the last stanza of this Frost poem and I thought it helpful. The pull to beauty, the subtle, and merging with it even through death, in contrast with our obligations and paths to continue is played out well and simply here.) Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening By Robert Frost Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. 32.
Yizkor (prayer said during festival) translated Adonai, what are human beings that You take account of them, mortals that You care for them? Humans are as a breath, their days like a passing shadow. In the morning they flourish anew; in the evening they shrivel and die. Teach us to count each day, that we may acquire a heart of wisdom. 31.
Personal Meditation Eternal God, Master of mercy, give me the gift of remembering. May my memories of the dead be tender and true, undiminished by time; let me recall them, and love them, as they were. Shelter me with the gift of tears. Let me express my senses of loss—my sorrow, my pain, as well as my love, and words unspoken. Bless me with the gift of prayer. May I face You with an open heart, with trusting faith, unembarrassed and unashamed. Strengthen me with the gift of hope. May I always believe in the beauty of life, the power of goodness, the right to joy. May I surrender my being, and the soul of the dead, to Your all-knowing compassion. (unknown author) 30.
My father commanded me not to die But my father, before he died, commanded me not to die. Never to stop breathing. Only to seem silent, while my soul continues to be sus- pended to the ether. So I go on living. I will not stop living. Neither non-existence nor fear, nor closely-knit woven gloom, in cloth cloaking the sun, will make me tremble, not the emptiness with which my loved ones leave me, silently taken one by one. .Then I'll give life to birds, wild beasts, shreds of sky, clumps of clay. Rivka Miriam 29.
My Soul On the day that I searched for God—for I could not see the Divine-- I turned to my hart and my mind and found Your throne, within, a witness to you in me. Yehudah Halevi |
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