We Must Pray And We Must Do: A Prayer While Lighting Candles

We give thanks for the ones who offer prayers.

We give thanks for the ones who take action.

We cannot heal the world without both,

We must pray AND we must do.

When so many people

Have vanished into the darkness

We light these candles

And say the blessings

And pray for those who have been injured or killed or raped.

And pray for those who are worried and homeless and hungry.

And pray for those who are lost to themselves.

May we all be joined in yearning holy conversation

And pray when prayer is needed.

We must pray AND we must do.

When so many people

Have vanished into the darkness

We light these candles

And bless those who are working so hard to make things better.

May we join with the stubborn

Of all places and religions and races and gender and sexual orientations,

Who, when times are hard,

Refuse to disappear,

Those who fight so hard for their communities

With food and advice and shelter and organizing and work and love and insistence and resistence.

May we all be joined in holy struggle

And act when action is needed.

We must pray AND we must do.

We give thanks for the ones who offer prayers.

We give thanks for the ones who take action.

We cannot heal the world without both.

Blessed is the Source of Light!

We are holy with the obligation to speak goodness and do good

As we light these [ShabbatShabbat is the Sabbath day, the Day of Rest, and is observed from Friday night through Saturday night. Is set aside from the rest of the week both in honor of the fact that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. On Shabbat, many Jews observe prohibitions from various activities designated as work. Shabbat is traditionally observed with festive meals, wine, challah, prayers, the reading and studying of Torah, conjugal relations, family time, and time with friends./mourning/Hanukkah] candles

We will pray and we will do.

Amen