Bless Yah, Ruach Ha Olam,
Breathing us in and breathing us out.
Breathing us in and breathing us out.
Each loss breaks a pattern.
We pray and remember.
God of our immigrant grandparents,
God of our wandering children,
God of the community,
God who is each person's, alone,
God who knew our parents,
God who knows our deaths.
God who knows our deaths.
We pray and remember.
Daddy God of our childhood faith,
Nonexistent God of our young skepticism,
Nonexistent God of our young skepticism,
Complicated God-ness of our adult searching,
Unknowable God of the mystics,
Rational God of the philosophers,
Soothing God of our old age,
Listening God of our last words,
Rational God of the philosophers,
Soothing God of our old age,
Listening God of our last words,
We pray and remember.
Bless Yah, Ruach Ha Olam,
Breathing us in and breathing us out.
Breathing us in and breathing us out.
Imagining us,
Comforting us,
Singing us,
Singing us,
We pray and remember.
We remember them:
Our Teachers and
Leaders,
Our Artists and
Entertainers,
Our Enemies and
Rivals,
Our Friends and
Companions,
Our Aunts and Uncles
and Cousins,
Our Husbands and Wives
and Partners,
Our Children and
Siblings,
Our Parents and Grandparents.
Each loss breaks a pattern,
Whether good or bad.
How can we ever forgive them for leaving us?
Our Parents and Grandparents.
Each loss breaks a pattern,
Whether good or bad.
How can we ever forgive them for leaving us?
We remember them
Because they gave us to ourselves,
Whether we liked it or not.
We remember them
Because we loved each other,
Except when we didn’t.
And we remember
Because, well,
That is our job.
That is our job.
Whether good or bad.
How can we ever forgive them for knowing us so well?
We pray
And we give thanks for the ancient traditions,
Telling the story even when we can’t.
We pray and place ourselves in front of the fear,
We place ourselves in front of the anger,
We place ourselves in front of the grief,
We pray and we hope for delight in the memories
And music when there cannot be joy
And repair when the patterns break.
Bless Yah, breathing in,
Praying with us because we are alone.
Bless Yah, breathing out,
Remembering us when we cannot.
Amen
Just what I was looking for. Thank you!! I expect to use it for our Yizkor service on April 30th, 2016. Love you!
ReplyDeleteWe pray and place ourselves in front of the fear,
ReplyDeleteWe place ourselves in front of the anger,
We place ourselves in front of the grief,
What a profound way of saying "put the fear, anger, grief behind you". You may not be able to control those emotions, but you can control your actions. This should be picked up by intelligent therapists; it's empowering.
Amen!