Dignity Presides

 

"Somewhere in us a dignity presides..."

Another line from John O'Donohue and one which recalls our baptismal covenant: to respect the dignity of every living creature (my extension).

He goes on to say "that is more gracious than the smallness that fuels us with fear and force, a dignity that trusts the form a day takes." For me this is the essence of sacramentality. To respect dignity, to become attentive and aware of essential wholeness, is to mark, make visible the inherent, invisible grace within all creation. The rising and setting of the sun, such common occurrences, are gifts of extraordinary meaning. To fail to recognize this grace is to fail to recognize the immensity of microscopic grace and to be in danger of falling into fearful and anxious insignificance. To engage in this re-cognizing is to be transformed. 

The Inner History of a Day
Born quietly from deepest night,
It hid its face in light,
Demanded nothing for itself,
Opened out to offer each of us
A field of brightness that travelled ahead,
Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps
And the light of thought to show the way.
The mind of the day draws no attention;
It dwells within the silence with elegance
To create a space for all our words,
Drawing us to listen inward and outward.
We seldom notice how each day is a holy place
Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,
Transforming our broken fragments
Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.
Somewhere in us a dignity presides
That is more gracious than the smallness
That fuels us with fear and force,
A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.
So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.
John O’Donohue
The Inner History of a Day
To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings