Blessings

This plaque hung on the wall of my childhood home, in the hallway, right at the foot of the stairs. On the sideboard, three wooden monkeys 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.' Together, I do believe, they saved my soul.

'Though I know this verse by heart, it hangs in my kitchen now, recited often as I wait for the kettle to boil. (To be clear, I'm 'spiritual but not religeous' despite the iconography.)

You can never have too many blessings. I was recently shocked to discover that the great John O'Donohue had died. Here's a short clip of him in fine form.

This is one of his many blessings, a favourite of mine.

Beannacht
On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

I forgot I took some pics of the sea and sky doing their lovely thing. There's one here (sea looks best in large).