There was a wonderful interview with Krista Tippett and Irish poet and philosopher, John O'Donohue, on NPR this morning. Mr. O'Donohue died in his sleep @ age 52, which should give us pause. My favorite parts of the show: "Where you are understood, you are at home." And, quoting from German mystic, Master Eckhart:
"There is a place in the soul — there is a place in the soul that neither time, nor space, nor no created thing can touch." And [O'Donohue] really thought that was amazing, and if you cash it out what it means is, that in — that your identity is not equivalent to your biography. And that there is a place in you where you have never been wounded, where there's still a sureness in you, where there's a seamlessness in you, and where there is a confidence and tranquility in you. And I think the intention of prayer and spirituality and love is now and again to visit that inner kind of sanctuary.
And finally, a prayer Mr. O'Donohue wrote for his mother when his father, her husband, died, the sentiments of which prayer I wish for you:
On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
in the currach 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 light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
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.
The entire transcript of Ms. Tippett's interview is here.
May you always have an invisible cloak of love around you to mind your life and a path of yellow moonlight to bring you home.
No comments:
Post a Comment