The Siddur of Shir Chadash

May the door of this home be wide enough
to receive all who hunger for love,
all who are lonely for friendship.
May it welcome all who have cares to unburden,
thanks to express, hopes to nurture.
May the door of this house be narrow enough
to shut out pettiness and pride, envy and enmity.
May its threshold be no stumbling block
to young or strained feet.
May it be too high to admit to complacency,
selfishness, and harshness.
May this home be for all who enter,
the doorway to richness and a more meaningful life.

This is from a Jewish book of daily prayers.  I think it may be meant for a wedding ceremony or perhaps as a blessing for a new home, but I can see it applied to a broader good. “Siddur” apparently means “order” and that sounds as hope-filled as “love” and “welcome”  … perhaps to the refugees that are arriving on so many foreign shores.

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From La Vita Nuova

In that book which is My memory . . .
before which little can be read,
Appear the words
‘Incipit vita nova:
Here begins the new life.

– Dante Allegro

This was written in the medieval spirit of courtly love but also sounds to me like warm welcome to people escaping violent, repressive and hopeless environments.  Today it’s them. Tomorrow it might as easily be you or me … let compassion and uncommon good sense reign.

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Excerpt from Surat al-Ma’ida, 48

“We have appointed a law and a practice for every one of you. Had God willed, He would have made you a single community, but He wanted to test you regarding what has come to you. So compete with each other in doing good. Every one of you will return to God and He will inform you regarding the things about which you differed.”

Surat = chapter of the Qur’an

WRITING PROMPT

Speaking from your heart, write a prayer, poem or psalm, or a prose paragraph that expresses a welcome to whatever person, family or group with whom you feel a connection and for whom you wish peace and safety. Click on the Mister Linky icon below and enter you name and the link to your piece so that we may all read and enjoy. (Please DON’T enter the link to your blog. DO enter the link to the relevant post.)  I’ll check back on this week’s Mister Linky for two weeks. You don’t need to link in something today.

May Peace Prevail In Our World, Our Homes and Our Hearts.