Wednesday, December 31, 2014

BEANNACHT: A BLESSING FOR THE NEW YEAR


Happy New Year to all of my wonderful friends in the blogging world.  Here is a fine poetic blessing that the late John O'Donohue wrote for his mother, Josie. Subsequently, the blessing was included in O'Donohue's book, To Bless the Space Between Us, and was offered as "A Blessing for the New Year."  The words and Celtic sentiments embodied therein resonate deeply with me as I embark upon yet another year.   May they also resonate with you.


                                                     Beannacht
                                                            by 
                                                 John O'Donohue

                                        On the day when

                                        The weight deadens
                                        On you shoulders
                                        And you stumble,
                                        May the clay dance
                                        To balance you.

                                        And when you eyes
                                        Freeze behind
                                        The gray window
                                        And the ghost of loss
                                        Gets into you,
                                        May a flock of colors,
                                        Indigo, red, green
                                        And azure blue,
                                        Come to awaken in you
                                        A meadow of delight.

                                        When the canvas frays
                                        In the curragh of thought
                                        And a stain of ocean
                                        Blackens beneath you,
                                        May there come across the waters
                                        A path of yellow moonlight
                                        To bring you safely home.

                                        May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
                                        May the clarity of the light be yours,
                                        May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
                                        And may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

                                        And so may a slow
                                        Wind work these words
                                        Of love around you,
                                        An invisible cloak
                                        To mind your life.