Rabbi Address’s Note: Alden Solovy, the liturgist, poet and prayer writer who chronicles so much of life, recently forwarded this beautiful meditation. His “Unfinished Business” really struck a chord as it speaks to thoughts that we often keep inside. As we become more and more aware of our mortality and the passage of time, we often acknowledge that we have so much more we wish to do, we have so much more “unfinished business.”
Editor’s Note:Alden Solovy has been a guest on the Seekers of Meaning Podcast twice. You can hear his conversations with Rabbi Address here and here.
This is a meditation on the unfinished business in my life. Loving more deeply. Being more present. Showing more gratitude. Living the life that G-d wants for me. A life of courage, joy and faith. There are places I’ve yet to see. There are songs and poems and prayers that I’ve yet to write. This is the unfinished business of my life.
Unfinished Business
There is so much unfinished business in my life.
So much I have left undone.
Have I shown you my heart,
The well of love and sorrow,
Of fear and joy,
That I keep deep within?
Have I given you my hands,
The source of power and support,
Of gentleness and compassion,
As a gift of devotion?
Have I held you with my eyes,
The river of blessings
That flow as grace
From my core to yours?
There is so much unfinished business in my life,
To attend with joy and dancing,
Sending love from my soul to yours,
Now and forever.
© 2019 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. Reproduced by permission.
Alden Solovy spreads joy and excitement for prayer. A liturgist and poet, his work has been used by people of all faiths throughout the world. He’s written more than 700 pieces of new liturgy, offering a fresh new Jewish voice, challenging the boundaries between poetry, meditation, personal growth and prayer. He’s a teacher, a writing coach and an award-winning essayist and journalist. He’s an ELI talk fellow, speaking on “Falling in Love with Prayer.”
Alden’s writing was transformed by multiple tragedies, marked in 2009 by the sudden death of his wife from catastrophic brain injury. As a result, he deepened his exploration of meditation, poetry, liturgy and personal prayer as a healing, spiritual practice. His third book, This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day, was released in 2017 by CCAR Press. His next book, This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings, is anticipated this winter, also from CCAR Press.
Alden’s work has been widely anthologized, including Men Pray (Skylight Paths Publishing) and Choosing a Jewish Life (Anita Diamant, Schocken), as well as these CCAR Press books: Gates of Shabbat; Mishkah R’Fuah: Where Healing Resides; L’col Z’man Eit: For Sacred Moments, a Rabbi’s Manual; and Mishkan Hanefesh, a new machzor. Alden is a three-time winner of Chicago journalism’s top prize for essay writing. He was the National Havurah Committee’s 2015 Summer Institute Liturgist-In-Residence. Here are his publishing credits.
Alden is available to teach, read his work or serve as liturgist-in-residence. His teaching spans from U.S. synagogues to Limmud Conference UK to HUC-JIR, Jerusalem. Here’s his speaking schedule, as well as testimonials from rabbis and educators.
Alden holds a B.A. in English composition with a minor in literature from Beloit College, an M.A. in journalism from the University of Illinois-Springfield and an M.B.A. in economics and finance from the University of Chicago. He previously served as executive editor and associate publisher for the Journals of the American Hospital Association.
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