MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
Lord, let Your light be only for the day, and the darkness for the night. And let my dress, my poor humble dress, lie quietly over my chair at night. Let the church–bells be silent, my neighbour Ivan not ring them at night. Let the wind not waken the children out of their sleep at night. Let the hen sleep on its roost, the horse in the stable all through the night. Remove the stone from the middle of the road that the thief may not stumble at night. Let heaven be quiet during the night. Restrain the lightning, silence the thunder, they should not frighten mothers giving birth to their babies at night. And me too protect against fire and water, protect my poor roof at night.
Let my dress, my poor humble dress lie quietly over my chair at night.
Nachum Bomze And yet I pray, for I do not desire to lose the blessed feeling of unity, of communication with You. Arnold Schoenberg I do not beg You to reveal to me the secret of Your ways – I could not bear it. But show me one thing; show it to me more clearly and more deeply: show me what this, which is happening at this very moment, means to me, what it demands of me, what You, Lord of the world, are telling me by way of it. Ah, it is not why I suffer, that I wish to know, but only whether I suffer for Your sake. Levi Yitschak of Berditchev Anyway, can I pretend I have much choice? I look at myself and see chest, thighs, feet – a head. This strange organization, I know it will die. And inside – something, something, happiness ... ‘Thou movest me.’That leaves no choice. Something produces intensity, a holy feeling, as oranges produce orange, as grass green, as birds heat. Some hearts put out more love and some less of it, presumably. Does it signify anything? There are those who say this product of hearts is knowledge ... I couldn’t say that, for sure. My face too <<<
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