A Book Of Blessings - an inspiring and comforting and deeply touching collection of blessings for every moment in life from international bestselling author John O’Donohue

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Reading it, I couldn't help but feel that it's as appropriate today as it's ever been, that it speaks to more than just marriage but to our relationships with one another on a grander, human scale. His first book, Anam Cara - his take on the spiritual wisdom of the Celtic world - burst on the tired religious publishing world like an array of daffodils on a dark, end-of-winter landscape. All his books are distinguished by their philosophical underlay, his acute perception of the light and darkness of human nature, his awesome awareness of the power of landscape, his poetic intensity and his profound integrity. He has devoted himself to minting a new language for contemporary spiritual experience.

It's a blessing from O'Donohue's book, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings , in which he writes: For people jaded by the blandness of conventional Irish Catholicism, John O'Donohue opened up new vistas of exploration and experience, writes Kevin Hegarty. John O’Donohue (1 Jan 1956 – 4 Jan 2008) was an Irish poet, author, priest, and Hegelian philosopher. He was a native Irish speaker, and as an author is best known for popularising Celtic spirituality. (Wikipedia) This poem, by John O’Donohue, honors the grief of losing someone so dear to our heart, while celebrating the memory of a vibrant life well lived. Recently, I have been enjoying the work of John O’Donohue, who was an Irish writer and poet. My favorite book of his, To Bless the Space Between Us, is a collection of blessings to help readers through struggles and everyday concerns of life. There is something deeply kind and wise about his words, something which is encouraging and inspires hope during times of transition, challenge, new beginnings.

Solutions-Oriented Peace Journalism

I will offer a prayer, a blessing, a gentle way of being with all of this. One that supports my nervous system, my heart and my soul, planetary consciousness and beyond. Blessing for Courage by John O’Donohue What wounds do you have that are especially painful right now? And how is the “grace of transfiguration” healing them? command of the English language had become so rare and the skill to follow the rules of meter and phonics even rarer to the point that their numbers remained far too thin to raise enough money from annual dues for even an occasional modest bacchanal (as in the Calypso song Harry Belafonte recorded “Zombi Jamboree.”) As a result, they redefined poetry by inventing the very clever idea of free verse which allows anyone to become a self proclaimed poet and therefore a member. Now their motto is; “I came, I wrote, I conquered” and you don’t even have to be admired or even published in your lifetime, you can be discovered long after you are dead.

oh yes, a journey is indeed a sacred thing, no matter if a journey to a foreign land or the journey in our own town or city; it is all about the intention we set: are we taking the journey with an open heart, mind and soul? Are we allowing for the unexpected to awe us? Are we opening our eyes to truly see the beauty all around us, even if it is simply a tree on the street where we live? Are we engaging with people heart to heart? Are we seeking to grow and learn especially if immersed in a culture other than our own? I have found that many times when i travel, I've been to 27 countries so far: 20 of them through Storytelling performances/experiences, I seek to learn, grow and understand as well as soak in unexpected experiences whether that is a cultural celebration like the one i happened upon in Peru where hundreds gathered in a town square and ate a feast of seaweed, cuy, cheese, and tiny potatoes and there was singing and chanting too. i had little idea what was happen... [ View Full Comment] The beauty of nature insists on taking its time. Everything is prepared. Nothing is rushed. The rhythm of emergence is a gradual slow beat always inching its way forward; change remains faithful to itself until the new unfolds in the full confidence of true arrival. Because nothing is abrupt, the beginning of spring nearly always catches us unawares. It is there before we see it; and then we can look nowhere without seeing it.” This afternoon, I recorded a short tribute of my own which will be broadcast as part of a montage of tributes tomorrow on Radio 4's Sunday programme. It turns out that the long interview I conducted with John in December is the last he ever gave (listen again here). On tomorrow's Sunday Sequence, I'll be talking to one of John's friends, Father Kevin Hegarty. John And Kevin were students together for seven years at Maynooth. In an article Fr Kevin wrote just before John's untimely death, he explains why John left the priesthood for the life of an independent writer. He writes: John, an Irish Catholic priest, with a gentle turn of phrase and wonderful insight, made a great impact in Celtic spirituality circles in the last 15 years or so, becoming a Greenbelt favourite. Sadly, he died suddenly, and unexpectedly last year, aged just 52 – but not without leaving us some gems. The kind of friendship one finds in an anam cara, O’Donohue argues, is a very special form of love — not the kind that leads us to pit the platonic against the romantic but something much larger and more transcendent:

If you could offer up one wish for someone else, or humanity as a whole, today and right now, what would your blessing be?