Blessings

And when your eyes

Freeze behind

The grey window

And the ghost of loss

Gets into you,

May a flock of colours,

Indigo, red, green

And azure blue,

Come to awaken in you

A meadow of delight.

-Excerpt from “Beannacht” by John O’Donohue

A friend recently shared this touching and deeply comforting John O’Donohue poem with me. The title, “Beannacht”, means blessing in Old Irish, and the poem offers examples of how Mother Earth blesses us especially in our times of need, sorrow and pain. She blesses us with her “flock of colours, indigo, red, green and azure blue, ” which can transform our sorrow into a “meadow of delight”. The closing lines of the poem are a final embrace of sorts, reminding us that we are ever loved: “…May a slow wind work these words of love around you, an invisible cloak to mind your life.” I think O’Donohue is asking us to look for this invisible cloak, to see beyond what we so often ignore and take for granted, and maybe, if we see these blessings in our midst—whether in the form of a sunset, a misty morning, or the smile of a loved one—we will be able to feel an internal “meadow of delight”. I pray that we may all be blessed to see this invisible cloak and experience the solace that is within our grasp.