Praise Song for the Pandemic

Feast and Fast in the Time of an Epidemic

Feast and Fast in the Time of an Epidemic

Jim Burklo

Let us fast from hugging and handshaking
And let us feast on bowing and waving.
Let us fast from hoarding food and toilet paper
And let us feast on the food in the back of our pantries.
Let us fast from gathering physically
And let us feast on communing virtually.
Let us fast from obsessing about the future
And let us feast on the everyday wonders of the present.
Let us fast from casting blame for our troubles
And let us feast on showing compassion for the most vulnerable.
Let us fast on being scared
And let us feast on getting prepared.
Let us fast from fear
And let us feast on the perfect Love that casts it out.

MindfulChristianity 

Lockdown {a poem}

Lockdown 
Fr. Fichard Hendrick, Ireland 

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary.
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting.
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way.
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality,
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear,
but there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation,
but there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying,
but there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness,
but there does not have to be disease of the soul.
Yes there is even death,
but there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic.
The birds are singing again.
The sky is clearing,
spring is coming,
and we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
and though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.

Come Home {a poem}

Come Home

E.G. 

A pandemic poem - well, it’s about time!
Haven’t heard enough? Now hear it in rhyme!
I hope you’ll read on, though I suspect that you will, 
Something tells me that you have time to kill.

But what can I say that has not been said?
What can I write that you have not read?
You’ve seen every meme, you’ve heard all the news, 
You’ve shared and reposted your medical views.

And why not just say it - it’s all pretty depressing, 
Solitude can turn out to be quite distressing. 
How long ago did my fourteen days start?
Misery does not love being six feet apart.

So while most of you read this locked up in your room, 
With your browser tab firmly pinned onto Zoom,
I hope you find solace in the words I impart,
As they come to you straight from my quarantined heart. 

I can’t begin to pretend I’ve figured anything out, 
I have no idea what all this is about,
I’m okay at math, that much I can tell,
But Divine calculation isn’t where I excel.

So I’ve thought as hard as my fried brain will allow, 
Not about “​Why?”​ but rather “​What now?”​
What to do now that there’s nothing to do?
How to approach this as a God-fearing Jew? 

בּס"ד

1

Well I think it is crucial that we make one thing clear, 
Hashem has His plan - there’s no need to fear. 
Sometimes what we know is what must be stressed, 
God is good, God is kind - this is all for our best. 

And with that as a pretext, what can we now gain? 
Hashem doesn’t just put us through haphazard pain. 
Behind all these masks, a purpose is hiding,
With every gloved hand, His hand is guiding.

“Come home,” Hashem says, “I want you alone.” 
“Cancel, rebook, rain-check, postpone.
There is only one way to bring this about,
I am hereby declaring a global TIMEOUT.”

“Come in from your classrooms, your carpools, your schools, 
Come in from your minyans, your kollels, your shuls,
I know this is scary, and daunting, and new,
But right now this is what I want you to do.” 

“Come in from your parties, your shows and your plays, 
Come in from your workplace, your 9:00 to 5:00 days, 
Close all your stores, every stall, every shop,
Come in, My dear child, come in and just STOP.”

“I am closing all borders, no airports, no planes, 
No busses, no Ubers, no subways or trains,
You have nowhere to be, you have nothing to do, 
No need to make time - I’ve made it for you.”

“And now that there’s nowhere and no one to meet, 
Nothing to run to, to catch, host, or greet,
Now that I’ve filtered you down to your core,
Who are you when there’s no one to be anymore?”​

And it’s this very question that runs through my mind, 
Stripped down to my essence, who will I find?
“Who am I?” I wonder, and “Who am I not?”
And what do I do if it’s not who I thought?

בּס"ד

2

Well time’s on our side, no argument there,
With these extra hours, how will you fare?
Are you really the person that you’ve claimed to be? 
“Come in,” Hashem says, “It’s just you and Me.”

Cry out to the Heavens, Hashem saves every tear, 
Give Him each worry, each burden and fear, 
There’s no need to rush, Hashem stopped the clock, 
He shut down the world so that you could talk.

So stop and assess; rest and reflect,
And if you find that you must; pause and perfect. 
These days are so precious, and rare, and bizarre, 
Use them and find out who you really are.

And even more vital than the person you see,
Who is it Hashem intends you to be?
Where are you going, and are you on your way?
Will you get there tomorrow with your deeds of today?

So embrace this brief time that we’re spending apart, 
Search through your soul and open your heart, 
Leave outside out, take your journey indoors,
STAY INSIDE, SAVE A LIFE​; it may just be yours. 

Man plans, God plans better; there’s no in-between, 
Bitachon is stronger than COVID-19,
Trust in Hashem, His ways are directed,
Start the spread​ of emunah till the whole world’s infected.

May we merit a future that is blissful and sweet, 
Hand in bare hand, we will dance through the street, 
The world will rejoice in reason and rhyme,
As Hashem calls us home for the very last time. 

In the zchus of a speedy Refuah Sheleima for all those affected by COVID-19. 

Shared by Rabbi Ronald Weiss

Director of Chaplaincy Services

 Jewish Family and Child Service

4600 Bathurst Street | Toronto, ON | M2R 3V3

When Someone Deeply Listens To You {a poem}

When Someone Deeply Listens To You

When Someone Deeply Listens To You

it is like holding out a dented cup you have had since childhood

and watching it fill up with cold fresh water.

When it balances on the top of the rim

you're understood

When it overflows and touches your skin

You are loved

When someone deeply listens to you

the room where you stay starts a new life

and the place where you wrote your first poem

begins to blow your mind's eye

It's as if gold has been discovered.  

When someone deeply listens to you

your bare feet are on the earth

and the beloved land that seemed distant

is now at home within you.

- John Fox

Pandemic Prayer by Carol Penner

Pandemic Prayer
Carol Penner

Great God,
you are an ever-present help in times of trouble,
and that’s why we’re praying now.
We are troubled and we’re worried things
are going to get more troubling.
This virus is spreading around the world:
so many are seriously ill
or will be seriously ill,
so many health care systems are stretched
or will be stretched.
Be with front line medical workers,
give them courage to do their work
and keep them safe.
Be with public health officials
as they make decisions for the common good,
and politicians as they roll those decisions out.
Help us to be kind to one another,
because anxiety can make us snappy.
Help our communities to be resilient
and expansive as we reach out to help
all who are isolated and afraid.
In these times of shutdowns and slowdowns,
when travel is restricted or banned,
as routines are disrupted and we spend
less time together or more time together,
help us zero in on what is essential.
Thank you that love is also contagious
and stronger than any virus.
You will be with us,
and we will be with each other
in sickness and in health.
Amen.

Copyright Carol Penner  www.leadinginworship.com.

Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, ON

Pandemic {a poem}

Pandemic
Lynn Ungar

What if you thought of it

as the Jews consider the Sabbath-

The most sacred of times?

Cease from travel.

Cease from buying and selling.

Give up, just fo rnow,

on trying to make the world

different than it is.

Sing. Pray. Touch only those

Tto whom you commit your life.

Centre down.

And when your body has become still,

reach out with your heart.

Know that we are connected

in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.

(You could hardly deny it now.)

Know that our lives

are in one another’s hands.

(Surely, that has come clear.)

Do not reach out your hands.

Reach out your heart.

Reach out your words.

Reach out all the tendrils

of compassion that move, invisibily,

where we cannot touch.

Promise this world your love –

for better or for worse,

in sickness and in health,

so long as we all shall live.