Beannacht

Yesterday I attended the funeral of my cousin's oldest son who passed away after a tragic battle with mental illness. I was grateful I got to attend because it was a beautiful service, full of love and emotion. Not that it is a happy thing when someone, especially someone as young as Brian, passes away, but it was uplifting. To me, it was a spiritual reaffirmation of what is most essential and beautiful in the gospel, and also of the things in life share this event with family. Anyway, this poem was read at the funeral and it really struck a chord:

Thursday Poem-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 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 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