Embracing Life (3 Prayers)
Earth, ourselves,
breathe and awaken,
leaves are stirring,
all things moving,
new day coming,
life renewing.
-Pawnee prayer
from Prayers for Healing, ed. Maggie Oman
Blessed art Thou, oh Lord, every day,
Because every day is precious.
Every day is a lifetime mirroring all life itself.
Thank you for the morning when I feel fresh and young
And wake to the beauty all around me.
Thank you for the afternoon when the sun is high
Suspended in triumph above a work-a-day world.
Thank you for the evening when the shadows cast a sheltering
palm above the universe
Permitting it to pause ready for the dark.
Thank you for the night with the ever-present stars
To remind me that darkness is never absolute.
Thank you for the calm that is restorative,
Not a mindless obliteration of reality
Thank you for the sleep that heals and strengthens
And fills my heart with hope for a new tomorrow.
Marcia H., Twelve Steps to Jewish Recovery
O God
Give me strength to forget
Evils over and done,
History's fall and fouls,
Yesterday's frozen hope.
And give me strength to keep watch
For fair weather after a stormy day,
Incense of flowers
And quiet waves.
Give me strength to wait and time to hope:
Until the last day
Strength to keep watch and rejoice
As doves are hatched and babes are born
As flowers bud and blossom
And visions break out and grow.
Give me strength,
O God.
Eliezer Bugatin, from On the Doorposts of Your House