Achact Sha’alti – Just the One Thing

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Achat sha’alti me’et Adonai
Achat sha’alti ota avakesh

As far as desires go
I’ve got them from here
to the Puget sound

I want begins almost every sentence
and I’m sure that’s where my kid
got that from.

I’ve got infinite spaces to fill with treasures
and baubles and anything I can have
in two days or less

But if I could have
just the One thing
it would be You

Shivti, shivti b’veit Adonai
Shivti, shivti kol y’mei chayai

In the spirit of making any space
into a sacred place, I don’t have to go far
to find the house of God.

It’s in these Van Nuys walls
It’s for sure in Seattle, especially
at the Starbucks Roastery Reserve.

It’s where the water and the sand kiss.
It’s when a blanket separates the cold air from your skin.
It’s the light changing to dark changing back to light

Everyday
Everywhere
Forever

Lachazot b’noam Adonai
Ulvakeir b’heichalo

Lachazot b’noam Adonai
To gaze upon the beauty of Adonai

This is where Beauty gets its ideas.
Its frame of reference from the One true Beauty.
It’s what you see in the mirror

It’s the ability to elevate what others call ugly
It’s realizing you’ve liked that thing all along.
It’s the words you write when the most beautiful song

you’ve ever heard fills your ears.
That ever present beauty you see with your guts.
The only thing you see with your eyes

is other eyes.
This is the source of Beauty.
Don’t stop looking.


One thing, one thing I ask You Adonai
To be with You all of my life

Achat sha’alti me’et Adonai
Achat sha’alti ota avakesh

 

(One thing I have desired of God, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of God, all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of God and to inquire in God’s Temple Psalm 27)

These poems are offered free for your enjoyment. If you use them as part of an event, meeting, educational or liturgical setting, please consider tipping the author.

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