Hineini (hee-NAY-nee) is a Hebrew word that means “Behold, Here I Am.” It contains a sense of readiness, and willingness, to engage, and is a well-known response in the Torah when God calls Abraham. Abraham responds, “Hineini.”

(More personal history of the content below, if that interests you)

Lyrics:

Part 1:
Here I Am
Here I Am

Part 2:
Hineini
Hineini

Part 3:
I Am Ready
I Am Ready
I Am Ready
I Am Ready

Part 4:
I Offer This Day…To You
I Offer Myself…To You

All:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:

More about the song’s origin:

I sat in on a meditation led by a Rabbi during a work fair; it was a sweet moment of respite during a busy day. She taught us the concept of Hineini and led us in a chant followed by silent meditation. Afterward, I remembered the word and the meaning, but not the chant she’d taught. So I sang a semblance of what I could remember, and this 4-part chant emerged.

“I offer this day to you” was the first prayer I can remember feeling any resonance with. I was at a 10-day dream workshop where we were to keep silent until after “opening the altar” each morning. The teacher, Kim Gillingham, would lead us in contemplative silence after a morning welcoming our dreams into the waking world; then she would ring a chime and say “We offer this day to you.”  (I suspect the “you” was Creativity, but I’m sure it could be anything.)

“I offer myself to you” is now one of my current daily prayers, adopted from the 3rd Step prayer in the Alcoholics Anonymous textbook. (I am not in AA, I have gained a lot of wisdom from its teachings.) Again, the “you” could be anything.

The phrase “I AM” is a powerful one across many traditions, and is also something I chant regularly in the morning to help me remember I AM on this planet, and go forward into my day with intention.