geography of destiny

“Your soul knows the geography of your destiny.

Your soul alone has the map of your future,

therefore you can trust this indirect, oblique side of yourself.

If you do, it will take you where you need to go,

but more important it will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey.”

— John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

photo of El Camino del Rey, Malaga, Spain

imagining a new life

 

“This is one of the sacred duties of imagination: honourably to imagine your self.

The shortest distance in the world is the one between you and yourself.

The space in question is tiny.

Yet what goes on in this little space determines nearly everything about the kind of person you are and about the kind of life you are living.

Normally, the priority in our culture is to function and do what is expected of us.

So many people feel deep dissatisfaction and an acute longing for a more real life, a life that allows their souls to come to expression and to awaken;

a life where they could discover a different resonance, one which echoes their heartfelt dreams and longing.

For their short while on earth, most people long to have the fullest life they can.

No one wants to remain a prisoner in an unlived life.

This was the intention of Jesus: ‘I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.’

Of the many callings in the world, the invitation to the adventure of an awakened and full life is the most exhilarating.

This is the dream of every heart.

Yet most of us are lost or caught in forms of life that exile us from the life we dream of.

Most people long to step onto the path of creative change that would awaken their lives to beauty and passion,

deepen their contentment and allow their lives to make a difference.”

John O’Donohue, from his book, Beauty, The Invisible Embrace

invisible geography

Here are 2 stanzas from John O’Donohue’s “Morning Offering”

from “To Bless the Space Between Us” p. 9

 

“May my mind come alive today

to the invisible geography

That invites me to new frontiers,

To break the dead shell of yesterdays,

To risk being disturbed and changed.

 

 

May I have the courage today

To live the life that I would love,

To postpone my dream no longer

But do at last what I came here for

And waste my heart on fear no more.”

photo taken on the road to the Pololu Valley

on the big island of Hawaii

forgiveness blessing

I’m giving a Celtic Blessing Workshop this Saturday

and my mind is filled with blessings.

So over the next several days I’m going to share blessings

 from the master, John O’Donohue.

What I love about blessings is that they are a continual calling forth,

 wrapped in warmth.

Here’s part of one we could all hear over and over.

 

“May all that is unforgiven in you be released.”

To Bless the Space Between Us, p.97

 

art work: abundance

by Melanie Weidner

 

practice

 

“You may wish to change your life,

you may be in therapy or religion,

but your new vision remains merely talk

until it enters the practice of your day.”

-John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

photo of beachfront in Kona,

where I pondered new visions

and the changes needed

for them to come to fruition

magpie mind

"Suffering cleanses us of the falsities that have accumulated in our hearts.

So often our minds are like magpies.

We pick up and take on everthing that glitters,

even though it may have no substance. 

In a magpie's nest, one finds random collections of colourful but useless debris.

The fire of suffering cleanses completely the falsities

to which our longing has attached itself. 

This liberates us from the emptiness of false belonging and

 allows us to belong in a real and truthful way in our lives again."

 

from John O'Donohue's "Eternal Echoes - Exploring our Yearning to Belong"  p.162

the mark of beauty

"The marks and wounds that suffering leave on us

are eventually places of beauty."

- John O'Donohue

 

picture of a twisted tree I encountered at Dosewallips Park, WA

 

Intentions & Transformations

"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

blind spot

"May you have good friends to mirror your blind spots."

-a line from John O'Donohue's "For a Leader" blessing,

from the book, To Bless the Space Between Us.

Part of me says "Oh Yes! Great Idea"~

but the shadowy part of me falsely believes

that being shown those blind spots might actually be unbearable.

For Jill

Please pray for my friend Jill, who received a cancer diagnosis today.
I cannot imagine what she is feeling tonight. Maybe it's best described
by a photo like this one - in which one's chair has been suddenly
and unexpectedly moved away from the rest.

Lord, we feel limited and inadequate in the face of suffering.
We ask that you would shelter your daughter Jill under the shadow of Your wings
and create within her this night a sacred space -
a place where she would know how much she is loved by You
and all who lift her up in the saying of this prayer. Amen
.
photo from here

to read J. O'Donohue's magnificent poem "For a Friend on the Arrival of Illness" click here - make sure you scroll to the bottom of the page to find it.