6 - A Song of Community

The telephone rang Tuesday morning at 9:00 and my rabbi wondered, "Sorry it’s so last minute, would you like to appear on a local cable access television program with me called ‘Clergy on Call’"? And, by the way, it was scheduled for 5:30 that afternoon. Usually such appearances, while ultimately exhilarating, initially scare me to near paralysis. But this time, I really didn’t have a chance to freeze up. "Sure, why not?" I said and so it was that Rabbi Peter Knobel and I were sitting in the little studio of the Evanston Cable Access station, and talking about prayer and community. I’m sure the program was seen by at least 10 people: 5 in the booth, 4 who called in with questions, and my daughter who lives in Evanston and taped the program for me. But what we talked about, that our community is opening up to caring, was important, no matter how many saw the show. People are coming out of all sorts of closets. No longer do we struggle with illness or disability, financial downturns and family strife alone. We are making a place in our synagogue to offer gentle and dignified responses to need. We are naming names for prayers of healing. We are making sure that minyans arrive for shiva. We are trying. We are looking for ways to forge connections.

Six

A Song of Community

Assemble us, O God.
Convene us with the shofar call of Your love,
That we might draw near to You
As we draw near to each other.

Bless us, O God,
With Your light,
Shining in the human interactions
That nurture our growth.

Connect us, O God,
As, reaching tentative hands,
One to the next,
We feel Your hand upon our own.

Discover us, O God,
As we search for meaning;
Lift us, trembling, to rise
Renewed before Your presence.

Follow us, O God,
As we move through our days,
Finding Your hand
Each time we open our own.

Gather us, O God,
Enfold this community;
As the Grower gathers sheaves together,
Bind our hearts.

Honor us, O God,
With the affection of our loved ones,
Whose faces smile with Your mouth,
Whose eyes dance with divine mirth.

Join us together, O God,
That, embraced in the arms of Your people,
We shelter in Your house,
Secure in Your regard.