"There is a huge force field that opens
when intention focuses and directs itself
toward transformation."
- John O'Donohue
I recently took my granddaughter down to Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend. Lydia, who is 9, was intrigued from the moment she entered the park. It was all I could do to keep her on the path as she darted to and fro, talking at 100 miles a minute, while touching wildflowers and pointing out all the strange bugs. I could hear myself saying, "be careful" and "don't get too far ahead" and other sorts of adult admonitions. It wasn't until she ran straight towards a tree (off the path of course), wrapped her arms around it and exclaimed, "Oh Grandma! this is my favorite tree in the whole wide world" that I realized that she was having a completely different experience than I was. She was seeing through a child's eyes. Lydia was intent on blessing everything in her path and her intention was having a direct effect on me - it was actually transforming me.
John O'Donohue penned a beautiful book of blessings* several years ago that never ceases to move me. Listen to these words: "We have no idea the effect we actually have on one another. This is where blessing can achieve so much. Blessing as powerful and positive intention can transform situations and people. The force of blessing must be even more powerful when we consider how the intention of blessing corresponds with the deepest desire of reality for creativity, healing, and wholesomeness. Blessing has pure agency because it animates on the deepest threshold between being and becoming; it mines the territories of memory to awaken and draw forth possibilities we cannot even begin to imagine!" **
As I watched Lydia hug her tree I wondered if the tree was aware of her blessing, her love. And as we reached the water's edge and Lydia dipped her hand into the cold current, I began to sense that the water was enjoying the pureness of her attention. I was crossing the threshold between my perception of the park and Lydia's...and with that came a deep sense of kindness towards my surroundings. It's amazing to think of the power of one's intentions, isn't it? May we remain open to all the blessings that are coming our way today.
* To Bless the Space Between Us, A Book of Blessings by John O'Donohue, Copyright 2008
** quote from page 217
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1 comment:
Roberta,
Hello from a place of yet other trees and other waters. I just love the picture and your thoughts. Kids somehow get it that everything shares the Divine; how did we forget this as we grew up?
There's a rare monk seal in the bay below our Greek village blessing us all with its friendly attention this Sunday afternoon.
Blessings to you, my friend!
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