Thursday, October 2, 2025
After October 7, an Israeli poet turned to the following poem as a way to process the tragic events of that day and its aftermath. She writes:
After all we endured on October 7 and all we have experienced since, we have arrived at a place in which the ordinary, the essential, the previously hidden, have been exposed. It is a place of potential clarity, an invitation to see things as they are, in order to see them anew.
Beholding the “plain sense of things” may be painful. Our guiding principles may now appear to have been misguided. Our attitudes toward the future may seem to have been erroneously optimistic. Sadly, we are no longer who we once thought we were.
from The Jerusalem Post
After the leaves have fallen, we return
To a plain sense of things. It is as if
We had come to an end of the imagination,
Inanimate in an inert savoir.
It is difficult even to choose the adjective
For this blank cold, this sadness without cause.
The great structure has become a minor house.
No turban walks across the lessened floors.
The greenhouse never so badly needed paint.
The chimney is fifty years old and slants to one side.
A fantastic effort has failed, a repetition
In a repetitiousness of men and flies.
Yet the absence of the imagination had
Itself to be imagined. The great pond,
The plain sense of it, without reflections, leaves,
Mud, water like dirty glass, expressing silence
Of a sort, silence of a rat come out to see,
The great pond and its waste of the lilies, all this
Had to be imagined as an inevitable knowledge,
Required, as a necessity requires.
A moment of silence to remember Palestinian and Israeli victims and their families.
V. O God, come to my assistance.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
V. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
R. as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen
Ant. You who dwell in the heavens, have mercy on us.
A prayer for mercy: a pilgrimage song
To you have I lifted up my eyes,
you who dwell in the heavens;
my eyes, like the eyes of slaves
on the hand of their lords.
Like the eyes of a servant
on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God
till he show us his mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
We are filled with contempt.
Indeed all too full in our soul
with the scorn of the rich.
(the disdain of the proud).
Thanksgiving for protection: a pilgrimage song
“If the Lord had not been on our side,”
this is Israel’s song.
“If the Lord had not been on our side
when they rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled.
Then would the waters have engulfed us,
the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept
the raging waters.”
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us
a prey to their teeth!
Our life, like a bird, has escaped
from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Unshakable trust: a pilgrimage song
Those who put their trust in the Lord
are like Mount Zion, that cannot be shaken,
that stands for ever.
Jerusalem! The mountains surround her;
so the Lord surrounds his people
both now and for ever.
The sceptre of the wicked shall not rest
over the land of the just
for fear that the hands of the just
should turn to evil.
Do good, Lord, to those who are good,
to the upright of heart;
but the crooked and those who do evil,
drive them away!
On Israel, peace!
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. You who dwell in the heavens, have mercy on us.
Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
V. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
R. In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
Lord our God, you have called us to serve you and to love you; re-create us in the image of your Son, and direct our steps by the guidance of your Spirit, so that our life may proclaim your praises both now and for ever. Amen.
—Time for prayer, with a particular focus on KLC—
At the end of each petition please say, “Lord in your mercy…”
and the rest of us will respond, “… hear our prayer.”
from Today’s Sacred Space
Presence
Lord God, give me a quiet, gentle and receptive spirit as I spend these few moments in prayer with You today.
Freedom
Dear Lord, instil in my heart
the desire to know and love You more.
May I respond to Your will for my life.
Consciousness
We all need to take time out from our daily chores.
We know that our bodies need a rest.
When we come into Your presence, Lord,
our hearts and minds are refreshed, our spirits lifted.
The Word of God
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.”
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
“Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.”
Reader: The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Response: Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Inspiration
Jesus points to the tiniest child in the crowd and encourages us to be like that—in that culture, as in many cultures, the child had no influence, status or control over life. All was dependent on the parent and on the community. He is both pointing out something about how we live our lives, and also about accepting the most humble of people into the community. We are members of Jesus’ family, community and church by virtue just of who we are, before any achievements. Maybe in prayer, we might notice what gives us a buzz or a sense of importance about ourselves and put this beside the picture of children, who know that all they have is the gift of others and of God.
Conversation
What feelings are rising in me as I pray and reflect on God’s Word?
I imagine Jesus Himself sitting or standing near me and I open my heart to Him.
Conclusion
Filled with the loving presence of God,
I ask Him to bless me and guide my steps
as I go to do His work in my daily life
From SacredSpace.com
—A time of silence—
Amen
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen
