Prayer in times of mourning
It hasn't been the happiest of weeks, and I was touched to see posted on our West Hampstead Yeshivah facebook page the prayer below, although it's since vanished. It was posted for Amy Winehouse, 
whose talent and soulful voice are a real loss to those of us who were fans, but whose fullness of being cannot be replaced for her family, friends and loved ones. The prayer is written by Marianne Williamson whose blog on the prayer can be found here. Perhaps this beautiful expression of loss and departure will be a source of strength for each of us over the years.
Dear God,
Please take the soul and spirit of this dear departed one into the sweetest corner of Your mind, the most tender place in Your heart, that she, and I, might be comforted.
For now she has gone, and I pray, dear God, for the strength to remember she has not gone far.
For she is with You and shall remain so forever.
She remains within me, for we are all in You together.
The cord that binds us one to the other cannot be cut, surely not by death.
For you, dear God, have brought us together, and we remain in eternal connection.
There is no power greater than You.
Death is not Your master, nor mine.
These things I believe and ask my heart to register.
I surrender to You my grief.
I surrender to You my pain.
Please take care of Your servant, my dear one who has passed.
And please, dear Lord, take care of me.
Amen.
Marianne Wialliamson- from Illuminata
whose talent and soulful voice are a real loss to those of us who were fans, but whose fullness of being cannot be replaced for her family, friends and loved ones. The prayer is written by Marianne Williamson whose blog on the prayer can be found here. Perhaps this beautiful expression of loss and departure will be a source of strength for each of us over the years.
Dear God,
Please take the soul and spirit of this dear departed one into the sweetest corner of Your mind, the most tender place in Your heart, that she, and I, might be comforted.
For now she has gone, and I pray, dear God, for the strength to remember she has not gone far.
For she is with You and shall remain so forever.
She remains within me, for we are all in You together.
The cord that binds us one to the other cannot be cut, surely not by death.
For you, dear God, have brought us together, and we remain in eternal connection.
There is no power greater than You.
Death is not Your master, nor mine.
These things I believe and ask my heart to register.
I surrender to You my grief.
I surrender to You my pain.
Please take care of Your servant, my dear one who has passed.
And please, dear Lord, take care of me.
Amen.
Marianne Wialliamson- from Illuminata
What's the Biblical take on the line from the prayer above:
ReplyDelete"for we are all in You together"
There is a story that E.E. Cummings' father said something very similar to his congregation in Massachusetts circa 1901 ("G-d is in every one of you!"), which, at the time, was heresy, if not high treason. A century later...