[First posted on April 28, 2012 when we had just started this website; at the time I did not know the source of the prayer and left a message at the end for readers to inform us if they knew; we never got a response. However, in a library book sale in Burlington CA, I paid a mere $2 for the ‘treasure-find’ book where I finally found this prayer! And so the repost on October 1, 2017 and today, February 11, 2019– a timely reflection for the love month of February.—Admin1]
[SALT by BBB@S6K Art Work on display at 744 Alabama St., San Francisco, CA]
Oh God,
You have called us into life,
and set us in the midst of purposes we cannot measure or understand.
Yet we thank You for the good we know,
for the life we have,
and for the gifts that are our daily portion:
For health and healing,
for labor and repose,
for the ever-renewed beauty of earth and sky,
for thoughts of truth and justice which stir us to acts of goodness,
and for the contemplation of Your eternal presence,
which fills us with hope
that what is good and lovely cannot perish.
We need one another when we mourn and would be comforted.
We need one another when we are in trouble and crave help, or when we are in the deep waters of temptation and a strong hand might pull us out.
We need one another when we would accomplish some great purpose and cannot do this alone.
We need one another in our defeats, when with encouragement we might strive again; and in the hour of success, when we look for someone to share our bliss.
And we need one another when we come to die, and would have gentle hands prepare us for the journey.
All our lives we are in need, and others are in need of us.
We best live when we bring one another our understanding and our solace.
[Source: GATES OF REPENTANCE, pp. 388-389
The Union Prayer Book: For The Days of Awe
CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS
5738 New York 1978 Revised 1996]