Sometimes, the right poem comes along at just the right moment, and it’s kind of …eye-opening, to see collusion in the Universe like that. Jules passed along to our blessing by a poet I was unfamiliar with, but it fit another situation, so I passed it on to another friend, who in turn has now passed on a different poem by the same poet back to me – right when it felt necessary and fitting.
I don’t know if it’s just the age or the general uncertainty of the world these days, but I lately note how people I know and love have had trouble moving on from one opportunity to the next – as have I. Newness awaits, but letting go of what’s behind and pressing on to what’s ahead sometimes feels… just too risky. And so, this morning, a little push:
Blessing For a New Beginning
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 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 of 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.~from To Bless the Space Between Us, John O’Donohue
No longer “willing ourselves on” to this time and place we’ve outgrown, no longer listening to the gray promises of sameness’ safety, it’s time to seek Something Else.
And blessings on us all in this liminal space.