As I planned for Lent this year, I came by this beautiful prayer by Rabbi Jack Riemer, the Likrat Shabbat. I was so taken by the idea that all we have we need, we just have to choose to participate and use what we’ve been given, so for each week of Lent I altered the original slightly to reflect different aspects of where this might be true and used it throughout Lent, excluding Palm Sunday.
NOTE: I find this slight alteration of poems and prayers to be a very effective way to maintain the strand or a theme throughout a liturgical season without becoming too boring. I encourage you to try it and I thank Worship Design Studio creator, Marcia McFee, for teaching it to me.
This is the original by Rabbi Jack Riemer:
We cannot merely pray to you, O God,
to end war;
For we know that You have made the world
in a way
That man must find his own path to peace.
Within himself and with his neighbor.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end starvation;
For You have already given us the
resources
With which to feed the entire world,
If we would only use them wisely.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to root out prejudice;
For You have already given us eyes
With which to see the good in all men,
If we would only use them rightly.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end despair,
For You have already given us the power
To clear away slums and to give hope,
If we would only use our power justly.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end disease;
For You have already given us great minds
With which to search out cures and healing,
If we would only use them constructively.
Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
For strength, determination and will power,
To do instead of just pray,
To become instead of merely to wish.”
Here are the alterations that I added for the subsequent weeks:
Week 2
We cannot merely pray to you, O God,
to mend relationships that we have torn;
You have taught us forgiveness and you encouraged us to ask for forgiveness.
From there, we must work together.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end violence;
We must choose to turn away and set down our weapons.
We must open our ears and our hearts
seeking a different path in difficult moments.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for equality and equity;
We have to be willing to make space
for equality and equity to exist.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for open hearts,
We too have to be willing to be transformed
and to listen as much as we talk.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for the restoration of the earth;
We too have to be willing to change our ways,
to take only what we need, to seek new and better ways,
and perhaps to limit our desires.
Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
For ingenuity, creativity and willingness,
To do instead of just pray,
To become instead of merely to wish.”
AMEN
Week 3
We cannot merely pray to you, O God,
to end strife;
for we know that You have made the world
in a way
that man must put down their weapons
and turn their spears into pruning hooks
and their swords into plowshares.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end violence;
for You have already taught us the way of peace.
You have shown us the path of nonviolence
and forgiveness and yet we refuse to follow it consistently.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to extinguish hatred;
for You have already shown us that we are all siblings,
created in your holy and sacred hand.
You have led us on the path to righteousness,
even if we often veer and stray from the path
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end disunity,
for You have called out that we should all be one.
You have encouraged our relationships
and even sent your son so that we might see what is possible.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to end poverty;
for You have already shown that poverty is a creation of mankind
and not of you.
Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
for wisdom, clarity, and generous spirits
to do instead of just pray,
to become instead of merely to wish.”
AMEN
Week 4
We cannot merely pray to you, O God,
for all to be well;
For we know that You have invited us into co-creation
so that together we might work for peace.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for children to have safe housing and full bellies;
For we know that you have already given us the
resources
with which to make this real
if we might only open our hands and our hearts.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to create a just world;
for you have sent your son to show us the way
and yet too often we ignore the path or wander off.
Help us to find the way to fulfill your hope.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for the end of want,
for You have already given us the power
to create a more equitable society.
Inspire us to be more diligent in the work before us .
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to bring an end to suffering;
for we must be willing to do the work necessary to help,
we must be willing to step in and offer help,
we have to be willing to stand up and against wherever the suffering originates.
Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
For compassion, hope and courage,
To do instead of just pray,
To become instead of merely to wish.”
Week 5
We cannot merely pray to you, O God,
for peace on earth;
We must be willing to work with you hand in hand.
We must be willing to decenter ourselves
and to work toward a common good.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for the care of our siblings;
we must open our hearts to hear their pain
and be willing to step in and step up on their behalf.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for kindness to prevail;
We each must take steps each day to make it so.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for love,
we need to practice love,
we need to grow in love,
and we need to learn to receive love.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
for health;
we must participate in creating a healthy world,
in caring for one another,
and participate in our health and supporting the health of others .
Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
For open minds, open hearts and a willingness to follow,
To do instead of just pray,
To become instead of merely to wish.”
