Bless the Space Between Us

Whenever I feel despair or extreme anxiety, besides lying down in the peace of wild things, I turn to my friends who have created in books and picture and music signs of love and light, reassurances of emotion.

Of course I turn to the Bible and its poetry and to the rhythms of the Book of Common Prayer; and this morning, when yesterday was gloomy and today starting bleak, I grasped Bless the Space Between Us by John O'Donohue!

I need blessing; I need the space between us which has seemed attenuated to be encouraged. 

And here is what met me: "There 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." This quiet light is transmitted through blessing, intentionally turning with attention to gaze at a beautiful moment, a beautiful landscape, a beautiful face. It is to recognize, re-cognize, holiness. 

I preached last Sunday as Jesus healed the blind man with the mud made from his divine spit and the earth to which we belong, that the light is still there...no matter what. And I while I believe that with all my soul, we could use some reminders, yes? 

For me, at the center of my call is blessing. It calls us to intention. It recognizes wonder and light. It is formed in love. I have written blessings upon the birth of each grandchild and felt wonder. We priests bless babies, buildings and burials. When we do, holiness collects in the space and in the world. 

So this morning I bless the space between us, and around us. I reach across the divides and the tragic gaps with my words and with John's. I offer this in hope, hope, that for one moment we all focus on each other and on the God who shines light in the darkness...always. Perhaps the blessing can serve as a lens cleaner, a sanitizer not in short supply, to let the light in and out, to refract beauty in all directions. May the Lord Bless You and Keep You...

Beannacht by John O'Donohue

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 gray window

And the ghost of loss 

Gets into you,

May a flock of colors, 

Indigo, red, green

And azure blue,

Come to awaken in your

A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays

In the curragh 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 the light 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.