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TRISHA ARLIN: Words Of Prayer And Intention
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Wednesday, June 11, 2025
It’s Here
Monday, May 12, 2025
What We Witness
Saturday, April 19, 2025
The World Is On Fire
“To those who do not know the world is on fire, I have nothing to say. “ —Bertolt Brecht
How can I pray for peace?
The world is on fire.
The vulgar new rulers,
Outraged at being told
to share power with
The not white, the not Christian,
The not men and the not rich,
Attack us all
With lies and no mercy
And revel in destruction and revenge.
Like five-year-old boys
And thirteen-year-old girls,
Wanting everyone else’s toys
And breaking them if they can’t,
Rejecting science,
Torturing the innocent,
Predictable and very boring
In their greed and corruption.
I hate these guys, and
The heart boggles.
I fight off despair, and wonder
How did we let this happen?
Surely it cannot be that
We must pray for peace with these mobsters,
I won’t!
Don’t be stupid.
The world is on fire and
We must put it out.
Amen
A Nice Shabbat Nap
A weekday nap is time stolen
From schedules and chores.
Okay
But a temporary fix.
A Shabbat nap, however, is a choice
To fulfill an obligation to the
Holy
In the mitzvah of deep rest.
You must set the alarm for the weekday nap
Nod off for a second then
Wake!
The day must continue.
But the Shabbat nap has no end
You may sleep until you’re done.
Enjoy
Your sweet and holy vacation.
Blessed Mystery,
There are no worries for tomorrow
There are no regrets from last week
Only
This nice Shabbat nap.
Amen
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Make It So
“A poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can't defuse a bomb. But we are not helpless. We can sing the truth and name the liars.”
~Salman Rushdie
May God bless you and protect you!
May God deal kindly and graciously with you!
May God shine God’s face upon you and grant you peace!
—The Priestly Blessings
May God bless you and protect you!
Be a good Jew,
Sing the truth!
This life should be so beautiful.
May God deal kindly and graciously with you!
Be a naughty Jew,
Name the liars!
Enjoy saying no.
May God shine God’s face upon you and grant you peace!
We are here in obligation and doubt,
We are not helpless!
We are not alone.
Ken y’hi ratzon
We will be whole,
We must try!
Make it so.
Amen
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Hard Times
I’m proud of anyone who is brave
but I understand anyone who isn’t,
especially if it might be an
existential decision.
Hard times.
Shall We Find Out? (A Prayer For Restorative Justice)
If I call you stupid
Will that make you smart?
If you call me a bully
Will that make me kind?
If I speak first
Will that keep you from talking?
If you go on and on and on
Will that make me understand?
If we call ourselves religious,
Will God be on everyone’s side?
Shall we find out?
What happens if we listen
To understand?
What happens if we differ
And the world continues to turn?
What happens if we learn
To live with discomfort?
What happens if we love each other
Even if we disagree?
What happens if we admit
That sometimes we are wrong?
Shall we find out?
Amen
Monday, April 14, 2025
Holy Wholeness
Psalm 85:10
“Kindness and truth have met,
Justice and peace have kissed.”*
Imagine a circle.
Pick a point on the circle,
Any point.
Call that point, HELLO.
Start at Hello and travel
Around the circle
To the point just before Hello.
Call that point, GOODBYE.
Hello and Goodbye kiss.
Mwah!
Call that kiss, PEACE.
Call the circle, SHALOM.
Imagine kindness,
Truth and justice and
Imagine peace.
Call this, HaSHLEIMUT.
Imagine Holy Wholeness.
Imagine Sacred Completion.
Imagine Eternal Connection.
Call this, GOD.
Mwah!
*Translation by Robert Alter