April 18, 2011

21 Days/ 21 Poems: A Poem to Recite to a Child

For Belonging

May you listen to your longing to be free.

May the frames of your belonging be generous
            enough for your dreams.

My you arise each day with a voice of blessing whis-
            pering in your heart.

May you find a harmony between your soul and
            your life.

May the sanctuary of your soul never become
            haunted.

May you know the eternal longing that lives at the
          heart of time.

May there be kindness in your gaze when you look
            within.

May you never place walls between the light and
            yourself.

May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world
            together you, mind you, and embrace you in
            belonging.

"For Belonging" by John O'Donohue. To Bless the Space Between Us. Doubleday, 2008.

The poems in To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue’s are marked by grace and clarity. The seven sections of the collection move the reader from birth through death and mirror the sacraments in tone and mystery. These are poems written by a Celtic mystic who also happens to be a fine poet.

“For Belonging” is a poem I wished I could have recited to my children from the time they were born. Which is not to say that I did not repeat  some version of this in my own jumbled way. It’s just that O’Donohue has said it best.  So now that my children are grown, I have to say this when they aren't listening and bless them when they aren’t looking.



John O'Donohue (1 January 1956 – 3 January 2008) was a poet and Hegelian philosopher from County Clare, Ireland, where his father was a stonemason.[1] He is best known for popularizing Celtic spirituality . O'Donohue received a PhD in philosophical theology from Tübingen University in 1990. He was ordained as Catholic priest, but left the priesthood in the 1990s.
Source: Wikipedia
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1 comment:

Summer Edward said...

Thanks for this :)