Friday, October 17, 2008

Being at Home in Oneself

"When a person is at home in his life,
he always has a clear instinct about the shape of outer situations;
even in the midst of confusion
he can discern the traces of a path forward.

When one is at home in oneself, one is integrated and enjoys a sense of balance and poise.
In a sense that is exactly what spirituality is:
the art of homecoming."

John O'Donohue
To Bless the Space Between Us p. 82

5 comments:

Jan said...

What a good description of spirituality. Sometimes this is true for me; more often than it used to be!

Evelyn said...

Thank you, Roberta!

I recognize the truth of this writing, I'm afraid, because I know so much about the opposite state of being.

I've had little tastes of "feeling at home in myself", and I yearn for more. It's hard work, but I'm learning, little by little, that I'm worth the work.

Your blog is truly a gift to me!

ROBERTA said...

evelyn,
your comments are a gift to me! as someone who grew up in a diificult home it took me a long time to come to understand the importance of developing a sense of finding home within myself - first i had to come to terms with what had happened in childhood in order to find forgiviness and peace and a real sense of who i am. very slow work indeed! but so worth the effort - you sound like you are on that path heading forward! and you are right, you are so worth it!

Sally said...

John O Donnahue also says that in this post-modern world that people are particularly homeless, and challenges us to present the shelter of the church and the gospel in a new way.

I can identify with that sense of homelessness!

Anonymous said...

One must learn to be at home with themselves before they can be at home with others.

That is still a work in progress.