More Siddur Writing

Two versions of Ma'ariv Aravim, a prayer that thanks God for creation:

I see the face of the moon in a sky that's still light -- a little odd, a little special. The moon belongs to night (or night to the moon?), but it's lovely outside its usual setting. I'm moved to praise You, God, Source of blessings, for this beauty. And it's a comfort to know that the moon and sun perform their stately dance at Your direction. They will not collide, and we can enjoy each in its time.

I see the face of the moon in a sky that's still light -- a little odd, a little special. And I think of all the people You have created -- each of us a little odd, a little special. Gay, straight, bi; male, female, or trans -- all of us created in Your image and each of us as necessary as the moon.

A Hashkiveinu prayer, for peace and safety at night:

When I wrap my tallit over my head, I feel protected by Your sheltering presence. Night comes, our loving Parent, and the dangers of darkness -- accidents, gay-bashers, nightmares. Please wrap us in Your shelter of peace and keep us from harm, and we will praise You when we awake.

A prayer about harmful speech:

I don't want to speak words that hurt, or to be hurt by other's words. Please God help our tongues be tender and our skins be thick.

And a meditation about unity for before the Shema:

Each of us is different, each of us is one. Our atoms all knew each other in the old country. Let us find our unity in You.
___________

The class is over, but there may be another opportunity or two to write in a group with Andrew's guidance. I really enjoy the group writing experience, and immediate feedback. Otherwise, I rarely sit down to write unless I have or give myself an assignment.

Siddur Writings

I've been taking this class that is intended to result in the writing of several new prayers for our congregation's new prayerbook, or siddur. The teacher reads us prayers and poetry to get us into the spirit of things, tells us which prayers are needed, and then has us write in class. Here are the prayers I've come up with so far.

On seeing a rainbow:

Thank You, Source of all, for the rainbow, the spectrum, the colors that are both many and one. Thank You for its beauty, thank You for the joy, thank You for the blessing. When sun meets rain, when despair meets hope, when warmth and water mingle, colors blossom.

After having a transformative encounter with another person:

A fountain of blessings are You, God, who has touched me in the person of my sister, my brother, my kin. Each of us reaching towards you, we touch each other in kindness, with compassion, for growth. Everyone is different, but each shares sparks of Your holiness, and when we meet, we kindle a gentle, warming fire.

Two prayers for travel:

Source of peace, when Your people camped in the desert, You camped with them, and led them in safety. Please be with us as we travel today. Keep us from illness and accident, and let no harm come to us because of our sexual orientation or gender identity. May we praise You for the beauties we will see and the people we will meet, and may we bring blessing where we travel and return safely home.

There will be new dust on my shoes, new tastes in my mouth, new sounds in my ears. I'm planning a journey, God and I don't want to leave You behind. Come with me as we drive, ride, fly, sail, and wait in line. Let us together face the fears and joys of the new. Let us together see the beauty in places and persons. Let us travel together, safe from illness, accident, or injury, and return home in peace.

And three versions of Birkat Hagomel, the blessing for recovery from serious illness or the safe return from a long journey. Each includes the pray-er's prayer and a congregational response:

P: Thank You, Source of blessings, for blessing me, sustaining me, and bringing me safely here -- back to my home, back to my health, back to my synagogue family.
C: We also thank God for these blessings, and welcome you back to us. May God continue to bless you.

P: There were times when I wondered if I was going to make it. But here I am, back with you, thank God.
C: Amen.

P: It's good to be here, now, with you.
C: Hinei ma tov.

Art Show

I'm still sailing from having successfully completed my performance at our company's annual art and talent show. In past years, I've just stood up there, alone or with another employee playing keyboard, and played (badly) some music.

This time, I thought I'd make it more of a 'show and tell' event. I brought all seven sizes of recorders in my collection. I played a scale on each of the two highest-pitched ones and, along with my friend Jack, played brief sections of three Renaissance and Baroque duets on the other five sizes of recorders. As I set up my music stand, and in between the music, I delivered myself of a funny monologue on how the recorder came to have that name in English (when its name includes the term 'flute' in French, Italian, and German), and took a quick glance at the history of playing music on recorders and the design of recorders. My first scale was pretty awful, but I got it better on the second try. The duets went very nicely, despite some vibrato on my part.

There was also some classical guitar playing, poetry reading, a funny scene from a play, and belly dancing. Along with some very tasty food. What's not to like?