The Covenant

Blessed Fierce Mystery

We give thanks for the opportunity to live up to our covenant,

To live in Wholeness with the deepest self

And to create a society that embodies that.

We give thanks for the forgiveness that must come

When we fail, as we will.

Together we feel good, because we are stubborn,

because we will keep on trying.

With faith in our doubt

With doubt in our faith

We continue

In covenant.

And let us say, Amen.

If you find this offering of my work valuable or pleasurable, please consider supporting me with a mutual offering, if you are able:

If you use one of my prayers or kavannot for a service or event you can make a one time donation via my PayPal account.  

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Thank you!

Trisha

I Am So Blessed In My Annoying Friends

I am so blessed in my annoying friends:

Those women and men who will not let me sink,

Who text me every day,

Who insist on knowing if I've made those phone calls,

Written that essay,

Applied for that job,

Asked for much needed help.

I kept thinking it would get better.

This couldn’t be happening to me!

I’m smart,

I’m self-aware,

I take care of myself.

Until one day I had to admit

That I was in trouble, deep trouble.

I cried

And I cried out.

It took me so long to ask for help

I pray it isn’t too late.

And when I asked

I received.

Amazing.

But now that I've got it

I wish it would go away.

Because my annoying friends will not leave me alone

To wallow in my distress and denial,

And I do so like to wallow.

I am so smart

I am so self aware

And I have always taken care of myself

Except I can’t right now

And I am so ashamed.

I am so embarrassed,

To need help.

How can this be me?

Maybe I should just disappear.

But they will not let me go!

It is a revelation

To need help

And get it,

And at the same time

To learn to give the gift

Of receiving gifts.

I hope my annoying friends know

How much strength it requires

To admit that.

I am so blessed in the people who worry about me,

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My beloved annoying friends.

If you find this offering of my work valuable or pleasurable, please consider supporting me with a mutual offering, if you are able:

If you use one of my prayers or kavannot for a service or event you can make a one time donation via my PayPal account.  

PayPal  https://www.paypal.me/trishaarlin  

If you would like to support my work as a sacred artist in an ongoing fashion, please contribute (any amount) on a monthly basis to my Patreon account.

Patreon    https://www.patreon.com/trishaarlin

Thank you!

Trisha

A PRAYER AND RITUAL FOR THE CONTRACT BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND ITS WORKERS

(can be read in public once contracts have or are being signed)

 Levite:

Blessed be Ruach HaOlam, Breathing Us In and  Breathing Us Out,

Help me with my obligations as a Levite for my congregation.

May I serve my community to the best of my ability with hard work and creative problem solving.

May I remember the larger goals when I am bogged down in the small details.

May I learn to set limits and know when I must ignore or enforce them.

May I never forget that that everyone means well.

May I represent my community to the wider Jewish kahal well and appropriately.

May I always remember to work with my community with respect and diligence so together we may serve and repair our world.

(Employees sign two copies of this contract)

The Congregation:

Blessed be Ruach HaOlam, Breathing Us In and  Breathing Us Out,

Help us with our obligations to our Levites:

May we serve them to the best of our ability with fair wages and benefits.

May we understand that they are professionals and not volunteers.

May we remember that they must have their days of rest.

May we remember that they love what they do and who they do it for and may we not take advantage of that love too often.

May we always remember to employ them with respect and appreciation so that together we may serve and repair our world.

(Board representative signs the two contracts)

Clergy:

Blessed be Ruach HaOlam, Breathing Us In and  Breathing Us Out,

Help us with all of our mutual obligations:
Hard work and fair compensation,
Diversity and safety,
Opportunity and study.

Just as Bezalel built the Mishkan with his labor, and as he also took joy in the beauty of his creation, may we build this community together and take joy when it flourishes so that we may better serve and repair our world.

(Clergy hands one copy of this contract to each party.)

All, Together:

Blessed be Ruach HaOlam, Breathing Us In and  Breathing Us Out,

And bless the community, the work and the workers, that we are one in the One-ness. 

Amen.

If you find this offering of my work valuable or pleasurable, please consider supporting me with a mutual offering, if you are able:

If you use one of my prayers or kavannot for a service or event you can make a one time donation via my PayPal account.  

PayPal  https://www.paypal.me/trishaarlin  

If you would like to support my work as a sacred artist in an ongoing fashion, please contribute (any amount) on a monthly basis to my Patreon account.

Patreon    https://www.patreon.com/trishaarlin

Thank you!

Trisha

Stars In The Sky: A Kavannah for Sukkot

We can see the stars in the sky

Through the slats covering the roof of the sukkah.

And as metaphors go, that's apt.

But it's Sukkot and

Today we;re celebrating the mysterious vertical God:

The God of Heaven,

The God of the Harvest.

God, all the way from Down here to the mysterious far Up There,

Where the rain comes from.

And it would be presumptuous of us to claim clarity.

This all feels so very ancient, doesn't it?

Maybe thousands of years ago they took a break from the harvest

And shared a nice meal in a temporary shack built for sleeping

So they wouldn't waste time walking home.

Hey, they lived in a desert and they knew it wouldn't rain

So they built it so they could see the stars before falling asleep.

Maybe they thanked their gods for their good harvest.

And when Big Daddy Torah God came on the scene

They folded it all into the calendar.

It would have been foolish of them to give up such a good thing.

On our temporary sukkah walls there are pictures of the ancestors

Invited in to share a meal and a chat.

Some of us invite in the patriarchs, some the matriarchs,

Some invite in the scholars, others hope for the artists

And of course there’s family and friends, and wine.

So let's shake some of that pagan foliage

East West North South, Up and Down.

And have a sniff of a most expensive piece of fruit

And look up at those same stars.

It would arrogant of us to forego the joy or the ritual.

If you find this offering of my work valuable or pleasurable, please consider supporting me with a mutual offering, if you are able:

If you use one of my prayers or kavannot for a service or event you can make a one time donation via my PayPal account.  

PayPal  https://www.paypal.me/trishaarlin  

If you would like to support my work as a sacred artist in an ongoing fashion, please contribute (any amount) on a monthly basis to my Patreon account.

Patreon    https://www.patreon.com/trishaarlin

Thank you!

Trisha

A Blessing For When Good Things Happen

The fourth benediction in the Birkat HaMazon,

The Blessing After the Meal,

Is the hatov vehamaytiv.

It is also recited upon,

Among other reasons,

Hearing good news concerning others

and

For the drinking of a second cup of very good wine:

May each good thing be like that second cup of wine.

Even better than the first one, which maybe you drank too fast?

This second cup has all the familiar and comfortable flavors,

But having breathed a little

It offers up so much more nuance and pleasure

Than that first cup ever could.

God is good and good things happen.

Close your eyes.

Think of all the good things and people that surround you.

Wherever they are, have been or will be.

Now open your eyes.

And look around,

Here we are!

Right now,

This is the moment.  

Here.

We are safe

We have been found.

We are home.

God is good and good things happen.

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam, Ha-tov V'hameitiv.

Amen

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