A Rosh Hashana Amidah

I open my mouth, I open my heart.

I speak praise, hope and thanks.

I speak the Ancient Prayer:

PRAISE OUR ANCESTORS

God of my childhood faith, of my adult skepticism

God of the mystics, of the philosophers

God of our ancestors, of our children

God of this community, and of mine, only

God who knew my parents, God who knows my death

Blessed Ain Sof, what WAS before IS, and WHAT WILL BE when THIS is no more.

PRAISE GOD’S POWER

God of my strength and of my weakness,

God of my current understanding and my lack thereof,

Incline your metaphorical ear

And open your metaphorical eye.

Rambam says, 

If you can’t imagine God then you don’t exist.

There is no thing that is not God.

God is no thing.

Wow.

Blessed be God, bringing us the Wow.

PLACE YOURSELF in front of the fear. 

You will be judged, you will die.

Place yourself in the center of the universe

You earned that spot simply by existing.

Place yourself under obligation to God

However you understand or don’t understand God.

Place yourself in the path of holiness and joy and truth.

Bless Ruach HaOlam, the breath of mindfulness.

REMEMBER  

Remember what you did wrong

Remember what you did right.

Remember those who came before you.

Remember that you are responsible for those who come after you.

Remember your history.

Remember Torah.

Blessed be El, remembering us.

DECLARE YOURSELF

Because the truly evil are already condemned

The truly good are already blessed

And then, there’s the rest of us.

It is said that on Rosh Hashanah God decides your fate: life or death.

And the ten days until Yom Kippur are your opportunity to change God’s mind.

So don’t blow it.

This is a powerful day, a fantastic opportunity!

Declare yourself for holiness and joy and truth.

Bless Shechina, seeing how hard we are trying.

NOW WE DECLARE

And as a congregation, we proclaim:

Let the holiness rise up!

On Rosh Hashanah it is written

On Yom Kippur it is sealed.

And let us declare together:

We understand nothing.

All that is physical, ends.

We die.

But not today.

Except sometimes, today.

We fret about the past and worry about the future

And forget to live with where we are now.

And then we die.

We understand nothing.

But  

Teshuvah, Tefilah & Tzedukah 

Restore us to our place.

Teshuvah, when we return to our true selves;

Tefillah, when we stop time in holy conversation;

Tzedukah, when we transcend self;

And that’s when God decrees.

Bless the Presence, remembering when we have forgotten.

THE DAY IS HOLY

Listen to the Shofar as it announces:

Awesome and sacred is this sweet day!

The world is filled with the Divine, we are surrounded!

Hear us, know us.

Love us, enjoy us.

Remember us, rouse us.

Forgive us, inspire us, 

Bless Elohim, the Creator, the Created, Creating. 

SANCTIFY GOD’S NAME, so many holy names:

HaMavdeel, the Divider of Time;

Adonai, the Uniter Of All Existence;

Ain Sof, That Which Cannot Be Known;

Ruach HaOlam, The Breath That Animates;

Shechina, the Presence of Eternity;

Elohim, God of our Past

Yah, God of our future;

HaMakom, The Place, God of our present.

My the holiness be eternal

Let me look from side to side, to see all these possibilities,

The names help me comprehend

That which cannot be comprehended.

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Blessed be Achat/Echad, the One-ness, with so many names.

HEAR OUR PRAYERS,

That which Was, That which Is, That which Will Be.

We imagine you. We’re listening. Do you hear us?

We are in this glorious and troubled place and we take responsibility for how it turns out.

Blessed Yah, May the World To Come be the world we live in.

WE ARE SO THANKFUL. 

Ah, the sweetness of life, savor the taste.

Life can be so good, can’t it?

And right now it is fine.

Feed it with challah and honey,

Irrigate and watch it grow.

Who cares which book we’re inscribed in?

This moment is so great.

I am so thankful for the beautiful weather, 

the glorious music, the fine words, 

the sweet meals, the warm home,

the good friends, the silly toys

the sexual pleasures, the profound thoughts,

the crazy family, the big laughs,

and the loving.

Blessed  HaMakom, giving us today, which is so beautiful.

WE PRAY FOR WHOLENESS.

Bless us with love and mercy over us and all Israel and all the world.

Bless us with transcendence from the Light That Illuminates

Bless us with pleasure in the Awesome Connection

Adonai Echad, Bless us and keep everyone safe.  Grant us peace and wholeness that we may have decent and happy lives.

RUACH HA OLAM, Eternal Breath,

Incomprehensible. And really, so simple.

May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be joyful truth.

May the good things I pray for happen and, if not, 

May I never forget to hope.  AMEN

RETURN: A Prayer for Elul Rosh Chodesh

Return to Elul.
The sky was dark, and the month began.
A special time of starting over;
A month of kindness and clarity;
Of consciousness and knowledge;
Of bravery and strength.
It is said that the truly evil are already condemned
And the truly good are already blessed.
So for the rest of us
There is Elul.

Return to ourselves.
In Genesis the moon is called, “the lesser light.”
And that’s how I feel tonight,
Less than what I should be.
What was I thinking?
I was afraid, I was hurt, I was anxious…
No excuses, I know what I did,
Maybe it wasn’t so bad
But maybe it was.
How can I make it better?
There is Elul.

Return to the people we wronged.
Use the ritual,
Create a context.
It makes it easier to speak:
I am so sorry.
I was wrong.
I lacked compassion in the moment
But I see things clearly now.
You don’t have to accept my apology,
We can do teshuva together
If you want.
There is Elul.

Return to each other.
In community we pray
For the kindness to comfort and care;
And the clarity to see what must be done;
For the consciousness to accept the truth;
And the knowledge to get help if needed;
For the bravery to ask for forgiveness;
And the strength to forgive.
Most of all, we pray for all who are in pain or who cause pain.
All this and more because
There is Elul.

Bless the God of Justice, of Mercy and of Redemption that we may return every year, as new as the moon.
Amen

A Prayer for The Hurricane

Ancient God of the Sumerians, Hittites, Babylonians and Hebrews,
God of Noah and all who came after,
We can, if we survive, imagine being philosophically grateful
For this hurricane.
After all,
It reminds us that there are forces much bigger than ourselves
And puts our lives in perspective
Which is always a good thing.
But please,
Just remember this:
You promised, no more floods.
I'm just saying.
Amen