Monday, August 25, 2008

First "official" day of class at SAU...

John O'Donohue's blessing "For a New Beginning" - A near-perfect expression of my heart...and a prayer for all beginning this journey together:


In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

2 comments:

christianne said...

Barbara, I've been coming back to this poem off and on for the past few days, letting it sink in, thinking about how true this is for me, wondering how true it may be for so many of us embarking upon this path. Thank you for sharing it. There are still so many thoughts inside that are sifting through all that his words here say.

Barbara said...

YES, it's thick with meaning...still ahven't meditated on it thoroughly myself. So much resonates. Glad it's blessing you.
Your comments here and in class have been so....GOOD. Thanks.