The lrish poet, theologian and philosopher, John O’Donohue (1956–2008) insisted that beauty is a human calling, He had a very Celtic fascination with the inner landscape of our lives, and with what he called “the invisible world” that is constantly intertwining with what we can know and see. Below are the precious words of a man who could have given us much more but for his untimely death at the age of 52.
On the Forces that Isolate Us
“In this post-modern world, the hunger to belong has rarely been more intense, more urgent. With many of the ancient, traditional shelters now in ruins, it is as if society has lost the art of fostering community. Consumerism propels us towards an ever-more lonely and isolated existence (and) although technology pretends to unite us, more often than not, all it delivers are simulated images that distance us from our lives.”
On Love
“We do not need to go out and find love. Rather, we need to be still and let love discover us.”
***
“If you send out goodness from yourself, or if you share that which is happy or good within you, it will all come back to you multiplied ten thousand times. In the kingdom of love there is no competition; there is no possessiveness or control. The more love you give away, the more love you will have.”
On Friendship
“Every friendship travels at sometime through the black valley of despair. This tests every aspect of your affection. You lose the attraction and the magic. Your sense of each other darkens and your presence is sore. If you can come through this time, it can purify your love and falsity and need will fall away. It will bring you onto new ground where affection can grow again.”
On Wonder
“When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us. There are people who see only dullness in the world and that is because their eyes have already been dulled. So much depends on how we look at things. The quality of our looking determines what we come to see . . . May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.”
***
I would like to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding.
On Beauty
“Beauty isn’t just about nice. Beauty is about being more rounded and substantial . . . Beauty in that sense is about an emerging fullness, a great sense of grace and elegance, a deeper sense of depth, and also a kind of homecoming for the enriched memory of your unfolding life . . . Beauty is the illumination of your soul.”
On the Unlived Life
“One of the greatest sin is the unlived life, not to allow yourself to become chief executive of the project you call your life, to have reverence always for the immensity that is inside you.”
On Grieving for Those Who Have Departed
“We do not need to grieve for the dead. Why should we grieve for them? They are now in a place where there is no more shadow, darkness, loneliness, isolation, or pain. They are home.”
Blessing on the Day
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 into you,
may a flock of colors,
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 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.
Notes
Quotes taken from Anam Cara, A Book of Celtic Wisdom and books by John O’Donohue, including Eternal Echoes: Exploring Our Hunger to Belong, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, and Walking in Wonder: Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World.