John ODonohue - Benedictus: A Book Of Blessings--an inspiring and comforting and deeply touching collection of blessings for every moment in life from international bestselling author John ODonohue

In sharing words of grace and wisdom, John ODonohues blessings offer us shelter and comfort in this often troubled world.

As we open our eyes to the natural beauty and splendour of the world that surrounds us, we are inspired to confront the key thresholds of human experience. Guided by these blessings and by a reassuring vision of hope and possibility for the present and the future, we begin to recognize that our relationships with one another and even the most seemingly insignificant rituals which frame our days are crucial to our emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

Drawing on the heritage of ancient Celtic thought and imagination, Benedictus is a sanctuary of peace and a gentle, illuminating gift of light on our journey through this world.

A Book of Blessings

John ODonohue

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Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781409081258

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TRANSWORLD IRELAND
an imprint of The Random House Group Limited
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BENEDICTUS
A TRANSWORLD IRELAND BOOK: 9781848270121

First published in Great Britain
in 2007 by Bantam Press
a division of Transworld Publishers
Transworld Ireland edition published 2010

Copyright John ODonohue 2007

John ODonohue has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

For Olivia Leonard
Soul to soul
Through all the years

Also by John ODonohue

ANAM ARA
ETERNAL ECHOES
DIVINE BEAUTY
PERSON ALS VERMITTLUNG

Poetry

CONAMARA BLUES
ECHOES OF MEMORY

For more information on John ODonohue and his books, see his
website at www.johnodonohue.com

T HERE IS A quiet light that shines in every heart. It draws no attention to itself though it is always secretly there. It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to seek possibility and our hearts to love life. Without this subtle quickening our days would be empty and wearisome, and no horizon would ever awaken our longing. Our passion for life is quietly sustained from somewhere in us that is wedded to the energy and excitement of life. This shy inner light is what enables us to recognize and receive our very presence here as blessing. We enter the world as strangers who all at once become heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit and dream that has long preceded us and will now enfold, nourish and sustain us. The gift of the world is our first blessing.

It would be infinitely lonely to live in a world without blessing. The word blessing evokes a sense of warmth and protection; it suggests that no life is alone or unreachable. Each life is clothed in raiment of spirit that secretly links it to everything else. Though suffering and chaos befall us, they can never quench that inner light of providence.

While our culture is all gloss and pace on the outside, within it is too often haunted and lost. The commercial edge of so-called progress has cut away a huge region of human tissue and webbing that held us in communion with each other. We have fallen out of belonging. Consequently, when we stand before crucial thresholds in our lives, we have no rituals to protect, encourage and guide us as we cross over into the unknown. For such crossings, we need to find new words. What is nearest to the heart is often farthest from the word. This book is an attempt to reach into that tenuous territory of change that we must traverse when a threshold invites us. Each blessing is intended to present a minimal psychic portrait of the geography of change it names. Without warning, thresholds can open directly before our feet. These thresholds are also the shorelines of new worlds. The blessings here attempt to offer a brief geography of the new experience and some pathways of presence through it.

It has been a daunting undertaking over several years to create these blessings. A blessing evokes a privileged intimacy. It touches that tender membrane where the human heart cries out to its divine ground. In the ecstasy and loneliness of ones life, there are certain times when a blessing is nearer to us than any other person or thing. A blessing is not a sentiment or a question; it is a gracious invocation where the human heart pleads with the divine heart. There is nothing more intimate in a life than the secret under-territory where it anchors. Regardless of our differences in religion, language or concept, there is no heart that is without this inner divine reference. It is the modest wish of this book to illuminate the gift that a blessing can be, the doors it can open, the healing and transfiguration it can bring. Our times are desperate for meaning and belonging.

In the parched deserts of post-modernity a blessing can be like the discovery of a fresh well. It would be lovely if we could rediscover our power to bless each other. I believe each of us can bless. When a blessing is invoked, it changes the atmosphere. Some of the plenitude flows into our hearts from the invisible neighbourhood of loving kindness. In the light and reverence of blessing a person or situation becomes illuminated in a completely new way.

In a dead wall a new window opens; in dense darkness a path starts to glimmer and into a broken heart healing falls like morning dew. It is ironic that so often we continue to live like paupers though our inheritance of spirit is so vast. The quiet eternal that dwells in our souls is silent and subtle; in the activity of blessing it emerges to embrace and nurture us. Let us begin to learn how to bless each other. Whenever you give a blessing, a blessing returns to enfold you.

A blessing is a difficult form to render. I have endeavoured to write them as poetically as possible but they are not poems. A poem is an utterly independent linguistic object. It begins with its first syllable and ends with the last; in between it is its own force-field. In contrast, the blessing form has an eye to the outside in order to embrace and elevate whatever is happening to someone. It is direct address, driven by immediacy and care. A poem is inevitably more oblique; it works deep underneath conversation.