If there be anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe,
I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me.
But this was shown:
that in falling and rising again we are always kept in the same love
Julian Of Norwich 1342 – 1416, Anchoress at the church of St Julian, Norwich
photo Jamie Campbell
I love the gentle kindness in these words, and they are so true of real love.
Sadly, they are far away from how we often treat ourselves.
We are not wholly bad or good
We who live our lives under Milk Wood
And Thou, I know will be the first
To see our best side, and not our worst.
Minister Eli Jenkin’s prayer in Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, sometimes known as the Sunset poem
photo wiliam warby
The Master gives himself up
to whatever the moment brings.
He knows that he is going to die,
and he has nothing left to hold on to;
No illusions in his mind,
no resistances in his body.
He doesn’t think about his actions;
they flow from the core of his being.
He holds nothing back from life;
therefore he is ready for death,
as a man is ready for sleep
after a good day’s work.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
A little reminder to stay firm and to trust, even if it seems tough.
Difficulties are just things to overcome,
after all.
Ernest Shackleton, polar explorer, born Kilkea Co Kildare 1874
photo : Krisaemilia
May your longing inhabit its deepest dreams
within the shelter of the Great Belonging
John O Donohue, Eternal Echoes
photo Mullaghreelan Wood near Kilkea, Co Kildare
The phoebe sits on her nest
Hour after hour,
Day after day,
Waiting for life to burst out
From under her warmth.
Can I weave a nest for silence,
Weave it out of listening,
Listening, Layer upon layer?
But one must first become small,
Nothing but a presence,
Attentive as a nesting bird,
Proffering no slightest wish,
No tendril of a wish
Toward anything that might happen
Or be given,
Only the warm, faithful waiting,
Contained in one’s smallness.
Beyond the question, the silence.
Before the answer, the silence.
May Sarton, Beyond the question, 1
