On March 5, 2024, the JONAH Religious Leaders group offered a vigil to hold space for all who are grieving the closure of two local HSHS hospitals. Below are a few of the prayers that were offered for the community.
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Heartache and Joy
The other morning, I woke up worrying about a dear friend’s well-being. I felt it as an ache in my heart. When I got up and looked out my window, I saw such beauty that it stopped my mind. I just stood there with the heartbreak of my friend’s condition and saw trees heavy with fresh snow, a sky that was purple-blue, and a soft mist that covered the valley, turning the world into a vision of the Pure Land. Just then, a flock of yellow birds landed on the fence and looked at me, increasing my wonder further still.
I realized then what it means to hold pain in my heart and simultaneously be deeply touched by the power and magic of the world. Life doesn’t have to be one way or the other. We don’t have to jump back and forth. We can live beautifully with whatever comes—heartache and joy, success and failure, instability, and change.
– Excerpt from: Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change by Pema Chödrön, page 120
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At-Tirmidhi: 3524
Surah Al-Anbiya – 21:83
Ibn Majah: 4168
Surah Yusuf – 12:86
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Prayer for Lament, from Black Liturgies By Cole Arthur Riley
The condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. -Cornel West
God who knows sorrows,
We have nowhere to hide from this void. Thank you for being a God who is moved to tears by death. For in doing so, you remind us that one can know healing is imminent and still make space to grieve what is. We’re reminded that hope and grief are not mutually exclusive… May our mourning look how it must from one moment to the next… And as we meet grief in all its complexity, grant us a small company capable of remaining with us in our loss, those who journey with us as we heal… so they can hold space for our pain…
God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 (NIV)
Breathe
INHALE: How long, O God?
EXHALE: This is too much to hold.
INHALE: I am not okay.
EXHALE: God, with you I am safe.
INHALE: I don’t have to hold every pain at once.
EXHALE: I can feel and not be consumed.
INHALE: I won’t rush my grief.
EXHALE: These tears are sacred.
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O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.
O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.
– Abdu’l-Baha’ ..Baha’i Writings
Image description: Multiple white tea candles lit and placed upon a a table.