The Earth Prays

People hiking in a forest, examining bright orange mushrooms near a tree.

Was•Is•Will Be,

The fruit fly lives a lifetime in a day and says its Shabbat prayers every half hour. 
We get our three score and ten and we say those prayers once a week. 
The sun goes on for billions of years and we say a Birkat Ha-Hammah on its behalf once every 28 years.
So when does the earth pray?

Once a year is the Summer Solstice, Tekufat Tammuz.

The Earth it tilts and bends its planetary knees,

It leans and shuckles toward the sun

And says an Earthly brakhah.
And it’s a good one, a prayer of yearning and gratitude for light and warmth,

For the pleasures of summer and the magnificence of that tilt.
And as the planet davens, I will, too:

Was•Is•Will Be,

Before, Now and After,

This solstice morning I also gratefully bend to the sun
Precisely because it is not eternal. 
It just looks that way to us fruit flies,
Whenever the Earth prays. Amen.

Ritualwell content is available for free thanks to the generous support of readers like you! Please help us continue to offer meaningful content with a donation today. 

One Response

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Rituals

The Reconstructionist Network

Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement

Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

Support Ritualwell’s free offerings and events and receive a weekly guide with prompts and practices for each week of the Omer.

Ritualwell is here for you! Join us for community eventsand creative inspiration to do this spiritual work. 

Get the latest from Ritualwell

Subscribe for the latest rituals, online learning opportunities, and unique Judaica finds from our store.

The Reconstructionist Network