Another year draws to a close and as always it seems to have been much shorter and passed much more quickly than the preceding ones. My intention to make more of a blogging effort and show the world the delights of Ballymoney and its environs failed miserably this year! The luxury of having time to do all those things I would really like to do will have to wait a while longer as the daily working grind to pay the bills continues. Of course, if I had spent less time ‘on course’ playing golf I might have got a lot more done!
After a very enjoyable Christmas it has been a shock to return to work and do my stint at providing cover; in a very quiet office. It has been necessary to do a bit of ‘surfing’ to alleviate the tedium! As always there is some discovery to be made and at this time of year when we consider our achievements of the past and ambitions for the future it is nice to find words of comfort and inspiration.
The blessing shown below was written by John O’Donohue ( http://www.johnodonohue.com/ ) a poet and philosopher, who lived in Co Clare and sadly passed away in January 2008. His words and deeds live on however and as they seem to have spoken strongly to me, I have taken the liberty of reproducing some of them below.
Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2010…
Beannacht
("Blessing")
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.
~ John O'Donohue ~
(Echoes of Memory)
